


Underneath the Facade

by NrsAmethyst90



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, F/M, Falling In Love, First Time, Making Love, Romance, Rough Sex, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:47:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 88,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23211985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NrsAmethyst90/pseuds/NrsAmethyst90
Summary: When a job goes wrong and she ends up suddenly being kidnapped by a gang, Poppy ends up being saved by Tora.One thing leads to another and soon they're in deeper in things that shouldn't happen at all...At least in Tora's opinion.
Relationships: Poppy - Relationship, Poppy Wilkes/Tora, Poppy/Tora, Tora - Relationship, Tora/Poppy
Comments: 239
Kudos: 394





	1. Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Fanfic inspired by the amazing Miss Lilydusk. All copyright is hers, etc, etc.  
> Check her out on Webtoon "Midnight Poppy Land" and her patreon page for goodies ;)
> 
> Music Inspiration for this chapter:  
> DEFTONES-  
> Graphic Nature  
> Rosemary  
> Entombed  
> Leathers  
> Beauty School  
> Risk  
> 976-Evil  
> .............
> 
> Emilie Autumn- Dead is the New Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All characters belong to Lilydusk for her webcomic MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND. Check her out on Patreon for some awesome goodies.

She hugged her knees to her chest, resting her head on them as she stared at him. He had been quiet for the last ten minutes, and although not the most talkative (unless he was cursing someone out) it was unnerving to her. They’d been riding in silence since he’d gotten them out of the hangar where she’d been kept by an opposing clan. 

Her heart was still racing from what had occurred and she was sure as hell that she would _never_ forget what had gone down between him and this other... new group who called themselves the _New Ares Emperors_. Dumb name if you asked her, not that creative either. 

How the hell had she gone from being just a nerdy editor to being stuck between a gang war and being confused as the Tiger’s (a.k.a. Tora) new girlfriend? Well, they hadn’t mentioned _girlfriend_ … The word used had been ‘woman'. She had been called Tora's _woman_. 

Ha. 

If they only knew that the one time they had dinner together she’d nagged him into taking his stupid cap off (more like pried it off) his head and he’d spent the next couple minutes cursing Jacob, making hamster ball jokes and groping her cheeks. Then he’d walked out on her. He was more emotional than her mother had been on the day she’d found out her only daughter had finally gotten her period. 

Anyone who saw her and Tora standing next to each other wouldn’t immediately think “aww cute couple” but probably more along the lines of “that nerdy girl is about to get mugged.” 

She continued staring at him, studying his profile as he drove them across town in Quincey’s flashy yellow car that she wouldn’t be able to afford even in her dreams... She wanted to talk to him, hear what he had to say, even if it was just him cursing at her. He hadn’t denied it when the Emperor’s leader, Jack (The Ripper) had commented on how curvy she was and that he saw why Tora would keep her around. “Rumors are you’re not into women, Tiger, but your woman here disproves everything that’s been said about you. She’s got curves for miles under this top of hers. I just didn’t think your kink was sexy librarians…” 

She closed her eyes for a moment and shuddered as she remembered his hot breath on her neck and his clammy hand on her waist when he’d slipped his hand under her shirt. 

And the look on Tora’s face when he’d seen Jack touching her body, no respect, no care, no fear of Tora because clearly he didn’t believe the stories that were told about Tora in the streets. 

Until Tora shot him on the shoulder making him drop her to the ground, the squishy thud of the bullet hitting Jack on the shoulder penetrating her ears. She’d screamed and thrown her hands over her head as the sound of gunshots broke out, screams reverting off the hangar walls. Heart pounding, she managed to army crawl behind a huge metal barrel and waited for the gunshots to pass. The gunshots, the metal clanking of bodies getting thrown around, the men’s voices shouting directions to kill the Tiger... 

And then... 

She screamed, pushing herself against the wall when a head peered over the top of the barrel, her leg kicking out instinctively to protect herself. She yelped when it was pushed aside and a hand covered her mouth. 

“Damnit Bobby! Will you shut up for a fuckin’ moment!” Her eyes snapped open and she found Tora squatting next to her. There was blood sprinkled across his red shirt and she threw her hands up to her face to push his hand off. Gun in hand, and another strapped in a holster under his shirt, he was waiting. Waiting... 

“T-Tora?” 

“Yeah?” He didn’t look at her. 

“What are we waiting for?” she whispered as she checked him out to see if he was bleeding from anywhere, but so far it seemed the blood on his shirt was everybody else's except his. 

“Jack.” 

“I thought you hit him?” She’d _heard_ him get hit. She had felt the whoosh of the bullet as it flew past her head to the man holding her. 

“Yeah, but he’s Jack.” 

“And...” 

“He’s the _Ripper_.” He finally glanced over at her and saw her already pale face grow even more pallid. “Evil never dies, sweetheart. You remember that.” 

“I...Oh, god, Tora. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault! I wanna tell you—Look out!” 

“You little bitch!” 

She closed her eyes, arms raised to her face when Jack’s face appeared over the top of the barrel, toppling it over with a roar. Tora jumped over in front of her, landing on her chest, and another shot rang out. 

Then there was silence. 

She gasped, trying to catch her breath. What had just happened? Why couldn’t she breathe? She panted nervously, feeling slightly lightheaded. 

Opening her eyes, she realized that the reason she couldn’t catch her breath was because of Tora’s weight on her...as well as a dead Jack who now laid over both of them. Blood from the wound on the middle of his forehead seeped out and landed on her cheek. 

“Oh god! Oh god! T-Tora?” she was going to vomit. This was a hundred times worse than when she crashed her scooter and ended up covered in unknown 'chocolate'…. 

“Son of a bitch!” He grunted slightly and threw Jack’s body over to the side where it landed on the cement floor with a thud. 

“You killed him.” 

“He would’ve killed you first.” Tora checked Jack’s pockets for his wallet and phone. Turning to Poppy who was still huddled on the floor he ran his eyes quickly over her body. Maybe a few scratches and bruises here and there, a red mark over her neck, but she looked fine otherwise. She was visibly shaking, pale and wide eyed as she continued to stare at Jack’s dead body. With a scowl, he went over to her and dragged her to her feet. “Come on. We have to go _now_.” 

“You _killed_ him,” she repeated again as she stared at Tora who seemed far too calm after everything that had gone down in the last five minutes. 

“If you repeat it one more time, I’m gonna leave you here. Now come on,” he growled at her as he dragged her across the hangar to the exit. She moaned when she saw the bodies lying scattered around the floor bleeding. He’d killed all these other men as well. 

She wasn’t sure whether to be glad that he’d saved her or scared that he was capable of this. Whose hands was she actually safe in? 

Tora’s, for sure. He’d tracked her down and saved her from Jack and his men. Oh, god. 

She'd watched as he’d tipped over a barrel full of black oil and pulling a pack of matches out from his back pocket, he lit one and threw it at the spill on the floor setting it all on fire. She didn’t ask him why he did it, but she figured it was to burn the place down with all the bodies in it. If there were no bodies, there was no proof, and no fingerprints that would allow for law enforcement to trace it all back to him. 

Oh gawd. She’d seen this so many times on crime shows, but living it was another thing! 

He'd locked his gun and shoved it into the waistband of his jeans. “Come on, sweetheart. We gotta get out of here before the police gets notified,” he muttered as he dragged her back to the car. 

And now they were here. 

“If you take a picture it will last longer.” 

Poppy blinked. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t realized that he’d been looking back at her. 

“You mean like that picture you took of me?” she threw back at him and stretched her legs back out. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, completely ignoring her reply. 

“Yes.” 

“Hmm.” 

_The Tiger’s woman..._

It had a strange, attractive ring to it. Dangerous, but attractive. 

She scowled and curled herself against the door, and Tora didn’t say anything else either. 

He opened the door to the apartment and stepped into it first, gun raised and ready in case someone was in there. When he was satisfied that no one was going to jump out at them, he pulled Poppy into the room and shut the door behind her, setting the many locks into place. 

She stood there, frozen, her eyes wandering around the room, realizing how small it was. Was this his place? Was this where he slept in, lived in? 

It was making her slightly claustrophobic. Surely, if it felt so small to her, it would make him feel the same. Or not… 

She turned to look at him. He was far too quiet and it was creeping her out. They hadn’t known each other for too long, but she knew there was something there, under the surface. He was acting colder than usual. 

“Tora…?” 

He looked up at her from his spot by the tiny round table in the corner, probably the spot considered the dining room/kitchen. 

“Yeah?” 

“Is this where you live?” 

“One of the places.” He shrugged as if it was something so unimportant. She watched him drop his guns and holster onto the table. He leaned down and pulled a dagger from the inside of his boot. She’d seen that move before, in movies and cartoons, and she’d thought it was fake. He had _literally_ pulled out a dagger from his fucking combat boot. 

Shit. 

He’d dragged his shirt off when he finally noticed that she was still staring at him. He scowled. She resembled a deer in the headlights, wide eyed and so still he would’ve taken her for a statue if he hadn’t noticed her chest rise and fall with each ragged breath she took. 

There was blood on her top, and a red smear on her cheek. She was wringing her hands nervously, her lower lip trembling as she tried to stop her teeth from chattering. 

“Are you okay?” 

She nodded at him, but her hands were turning slightly white from the way she clenched them so tightly. 

He studied her for a moment before turning away and walking over to the sink to wash his hands. He was in the middle of doing that when he heard her whimper and he turned back to look at her. 

If she bit her lip any harder she’d make it bleed. 

“Bobby?” 

“Can I b-borrow one of your shirts?” she asked and he could hear the tremble in her voice. “Mine’s got blood on it and I can smell it. I really don’t like the smell of it. The day I crashed my scooter I ended up with b-blood over me. I had to pretend it was chocolate to keep myself from freaking out. I-I don’t want to be a bother, but I have to get rid of this before it m-makes me throw up.” 

He simply nodded and walked over to his closet and pulled a white dress shirt for her since that was all he had in this apartment—formal clothes to wear to the meetings Balthuman made him go to. He always wanted his men to be well-dressed, neat, tidy—contrary to the messy life they led. 

For Tora, those white dress shirts and pressed pants were perhaps the only neat and controlled things in his life. 

He felt like a lie in them. He hated it. The control, pretending he didn’t care, but he didn’t say anything. Any comments he made led to other questions, led to scrutiny, led to questioning his intentions and eventually, to punishment. He was smart enough to avoid punishment so he simply did what he was told, as quickly as possible, so he could resume his day to day life and get Balthuman off his back. So far, it had worked for him. 

But he wasn’t so sure how far and for how long it would work… 

He tossed the shirt to her probably harder than he’d intended and she yelped, scrambling to catch it before it hit the ground. 

“Thanks,” she muttered with a glare at him, but he’d already turned back to the closet. 

Fuckin’ asshole. 

_The Tiger’s Woman._.. 

Tora growled and ran his wet hands down his face in frustration. “Fuck!” 

When he’d received the first text he’d ignored it. It was the first time or the last time he’d received random messages threatening him if he didn’t meet up or help someone. He’d seen the alert and tossed his phone to side with a scoff, he hadn’t even open up the text. He’d gone back to doing his reps, trying to ignore the buzzing phone. 

The second text caught his attention, but he’d ignored it as well. 

**_Come meet me, I wanna talk business._**

The last message though, got him frowning, a weird feeling setting in his stomach. 

**_We have something of yours_**

And his stomach had dropped when he’d opened the message to find a photo of a pale-faced Poppy with her hands held behind her back by some thug. Although she looked pissed off and her hair was mussed up from probable struggle, he saw the fear hidden in her eyes. 

**_If you want her, you meet us. We'll talk._**

He’d flown out of that gym as if the devil was on his tail...Except, _he_ was the devil about to be on someone else’s tail. 

_The Tiger’s woman..._

“Tora? Oof!” 

He jumped, swinging out and before he knew it, had dropped Poppy to the ground, leaning over her, a hand holding her own over her chest, a knee pressing her thighs down to the floor. She was panting, trying to catch her breath, her eyes wide—momentarily surprised—and then to his surprise, it turned into a glare. 

“Get off, you big lug!” she gasped as she tried to push his arm off her chest. “I can’t breathe!” 

Taking by surprise, he obliged, pulling back to sit on his ass and lean back against the side of the bed. She sat up, muttering about him being a jerk, and a thug, and how her butt was hurting from the fall. 

“Are you done cursing me over there?” 

“No. Not yet,” she grumbled as she fixed her shirt. She stopped with a huff and glanced over at him. He was just sitting there, staring off into space, still not wearing a shirt. She checked out his tattoos, the swirl of colors over sinewy muscles. Warm, sinewy muscles... 

“Why did you do it?” 

“Do... what?” She frowned in confusion. She felt a momentary spark of panic at the serious tone of his voice. 

“Go find that old man when I told you not to.” He finally looked at her, bright eyes staring deep into her own, making her breath catch. There was fire in them and she wasn’t sure if it was the good kind... 

“I...” _Stand your ground, keep your head u_ p. She sat up straighter, staring straight back at him. “I had to go talk to him. He was in danger as well, I just knew that—” 

“If you fuckin’ knew that he was in danger, then why did you decide to go find him?” Tora cut her off with a low growl, almost like a purr... 

“He was in—wait what? I...” She frowned slightly, heart pounding as she tried to keep her head up. Tora turned to leaned closer to her, his eyes almost glowing in the dim lights of the room. The lights from the signs outside illuminating the room and casting an eerie glow over them. She knew she should back down, but her father’s voice rang in the back of her mind. _Look ‘em dead in the eye...and tell them what you need from them._

“I know you're not stupid, and I know shit’s happened to you, but do you have a death wish?” 

“I’m _not_ stupid!” She argued, her hands were starting to shake, and she kept them on her thighs to keep them from seeing their shaking. “And I’m not suicidal. I just wanted to help!” 

“You help better if you stay out of the way...” 

She swallowed hard, her stomach was starting to turn, her body was starting to tremble. She glared right back at him, holding his gaze as strongly as he was holding hers. 

“Why didn’t you deny it when they called me your woman?” 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

“But it’s a _lie_.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head, giving her a wave of his hand. 

“There is nothing between us.” 

“Then why does it bother ya?” Snapped back Tora. “Why does it matter? It’s a fuckin’ lie. If it doesn’t both me, why the fuck aren’t ya lettin’ it go?” He cursed, smacking the side of the mattress as he looked away from her. There was a tick on his jaw, he was breathing hard, she could tell that he was holding back. “They would've tried to kill ya either way if I’d said no.” 

Poppy tried not to flinch at his outburst, her survival instinct said RUN FORREST RUN! Except… her instinct might be broken since she just sat there and watched him curse. All that pulling and yanking must’ve loosened up her last remaining screws… Jeez. She noticed he had that same look he’d had when she told him not to answer Lane's call. Mistrust, pain, realization… 

“You were worried about me, weren’t you?” she whispered as she settled onto her knees. She was playing with fire and she knew it. The little angel on her shoulder whispered at her to stop, turn around, do not pass go; the devil on her shoulder poked and prodded her, whispering it was boring being good all the time. She took a look at her once beautiful top that Erdene had gifted her, now ruined under dirt, oil, and blood. Her skirt had a split on the side and she’d lost her shoes when she’d tried to fight the men off when they’d caught her. 

“You told me to sleep with you once,” she reminded him and watched his jaw tense up, but he was still not looking at her. She said it and then stopped for a moment because she wasn’t sure where her brain was going with this. “And you also told me that you wanted to know if I was this feisty with everyone or if it was just you…” she nearly whispered the last part hoping that he’d heard her. 

He did. 

… 

Tora wasn’t sure if he could continue doing this. Fighting, killing and then shoving it all down, pretending it didn’t bother him that his soul was on a first-class ticket straight to hell. 

He was trying so hard to keep his cool, trying so hard to ignore Poppy sitting next him beside the bed, but even through the lingering smell of smoke and metallic smell of blood, he could still smell _her_. Her perfume or soap or lotion, or whatever the hell she had used that day. 

Her words, why did she keep talking? Was she trying to piss him off? Was she trying to see how long it was before he snapped? He could already feel his body itching, itching for a fight, itching to hit something, tensed and he wondered if she could hear the thundering pace of his heart that hadn’t calmed down yet. 

“…that you wanted to know if I was this feisty with everyone or if it was just you…” 

Oh yeah. 

He remembered that quite well. He had leaned over and whispered that into her ear watching for her reaction, but she hadn’t backed down. He’d been proud of her then. Now, he was wondering if Jack had knocked something off in her head because she was just plain out taunting him. 

He turned to her slowly as he tried to read her. She was trembling again, and he wondered if it all the adrenaline from earlier. Her head was held high, but he knew it was just trying to save face. 

He took one of her hands into his own and gave her a little jerk, enough that she lost her balance and fell over him, landing across his chest. She scrambled to push herself away, but he held her in place. Her lips were slightly opened, her breathing ragged as she tried to keep her composure. 

“I’m beginning to think you’re feisty with everyone.” 

She raised her round eyes up to his because even if she was on her knees and he was sitting down, he was still taller than her. The feel of his naked chest against her felt like a hot brand making unexpected tingles rush through her to settle in the pit of her stomach. She realized too late that her body was reacting to all his movement, and soon she felt the tingle in her breast from where she was pressed against his naked chest. But who was she trying to lie to? Those tingles had been there before on various occasions when she’d been stuck with him, like that night at Alice’s. 

She took in a ragged breath before responding. 

“I’m beginning to think it’s just with you...” she whispered, not breaking their gaze. If her heart kept beating any harder than what it was now, it would more than likely beat out of her chest. 

He huffed. She watched his golden eyes drop to her lips, lingering for a second before rising to her eyes again. 

“I know your stupid ex-boyfriend cheated on you, and you’re some nerdy book editor. Your life has probably been vanilla cream and rainbows—” 

“That’s a big assumption! And you know what they say about assuming things—" she started with a scowl. 

“I saw that potato cat plush in your apartment.” 

“Potato cat?” she asked with a frown… 

“POTATO. POTOTO...” he tried to explain and she frowned until she realized he meant her Totoro plush. 

“You mean TOTORO!” 

“How the fuck should I know? But it doesn’t fuckin' matter. I’ve seen how you live, you probably grew up being a daddy’s girl. You don’t belong in this world, getting shot at by gang members. You should be home, in bed, reading your bible or something, like a good girl.” He growled the last part out and watched for her expression. She was frowning again, eyes confused, hurt, and angry all at once. 

She tried to push him away, but he held on. 

“You’re so rude!” she groused, starting to struggle against him. “You think just because you’re 6”3” you can boss me around. You don’t know me,” she stated with a hard push. She didn’t miss the low growl but she didn’t care. She was tired, she’d been kidnapped, she’d been groped at, and shot at. Then he goes and knocks her on her ass. 

She was _done_. 

“You don’t know me. You think you’re so smart and assume things about me, but you’re wrong. I’m not stupid, I’m not a daddy’s girl. I’ve had my share of problems growing up as well.” 

“Oh, pardon me sweetheart. I’m sure Starbucks running out of your favorite drink was a tragic event.” Tora laughed shortly and didn’t see her arm coming his way. His head snapped back slightly when her fist made contact with his jaw. “Fuck!” 

He loosened his arms around her momentarily in surprise and she saw her chance, pushing away from him as she scrambled to stand up and run. 

She didn’t even manage to stand up before she felt his hand close around her ankle, dragging her back down to the floor and towards him. 

“Let me go!” she panted as she kicked her legs back trying to reach any part of him. 

He flipped her over and dropped his body over hers, holding her hands by her head with his own. She was panting hard, face flushed and eyes blazing in anger as she stared back up at his. Defiant. 

“What are you playing at?” he snarled out the question. "And don't you try to punch me again, ya hear? I'm letting it slide this time..."

“I am not playing.” 

“Oh, really. Then explain to me why you choose to put yourself in danger. Is it some type of fantasy, a kink? Being stuck between a dark world of crime and death? Because, let me tell you, it’s not as fun as you might imagine.” He looked at her trembling lips, her chest still rising and falling quickly. “Stop playing around. I’m not your toy. I’m not one of those men you can twist and turn with you finger. This is real life, not some princess fantasy for you, and I’ve got better things to do than come save your ass.” 

“Why did you come looking for me?” She snapped and he squinted his eyes at her. “I didn’t ask to be thrown into a gang war. That was all your fault when you decided to take a pervy picture of me. Are you satisfied with it? Did you finally delete it or is it still floating around in your phone? Do you still use it when you need to get off?” _Stupid, stupid, stupid, shut up Poppy!_

“I told you that was a mistake! I realize that now.” He looked away from her… Was he blushing? 

“Then, why _did_ you come looking for me?” she asked again a little louder now. She didn’t know where she was getting her courage from, but she blamed it on the darkness of the room and the illumination from the signs through the window. “If you have better things to do? You should’ve let them kill me.” She gasped when he grabbed her chin with his hand, turning her face to his. She wouldn’t cry, she wouldn’t cry, she wouldn’t cry. 

The sweet and awkward man she’d discovered during their dinner at Alice’s was gone replaced by something… dark and cold. And then she realized it was the same look he’d had when he’d confronted Jack. 

And her heart broke. 

For the man underneath that hid behind death and hate. 

“What are you playin' at? Do you think you can play me? I’m not someone to mess with and you don’t know what you’re playing with right now.” He slid his hand down to her neck, “I’m a deadly weapon. I could easily snap your neck.” 

Poppy winced, feeling the slight press of his fingers at her throat. He was only trying to scare her, she was sure… 

“You’re not a killer, Tora.” 

He snorted. “I just killed ten men and I’m not a killer? I’ve lost count of the number of kills I’ve completed since I was sixteen…” 

“You have a choice.” 

“To do what? Be a writer? Be a family man?” He sneered at her, and she shook his head at him. 

“Everyone has a choice.” 

“Not everyone.” 

“You chose to go save me.” 

“I had to go see what they wanted.” 

“You could’ve left me behind.” 

The hand at her throat stopped. He snapped his eyes back to study her, before he removed it. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” 

“Uh, you brought me here?” 

“I meant in this situation. And you’re right, it’s all my fault.” He rolled off her to sit up. He ran a hand over his face before he dropped his head back onto the mattress. “I should’ve known better than to assume that a little bookworm girl could be a killer. Jesus! You sleep surrounded by plush dolls, Bobby! _You’re_ not a killer!” He exclaimed with a shake of his head. “And if they killed you, it would’ve been innocent blood on my hands again…” 

“Tora?” Again? She frowned as she sat up again. _You don’t think he’s fragile?_ Old Alice’s words rang in her brain as she stared at Tora who had his arm throw over his face. 

“You should leave now, Poppy.” 

What? The jerk. “Tora, I said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t think you’re the bad person you make yourself out to be.” 

He lifted his arm off his face slowly before setting his eyes on her as she continued her speech. 

“I don’t know why you try to be this, this…tough guy all the time. You rescued me. Not once, but twice already. You could’ve just let them kill me, good riddance. But you came to find me. There should be no reason why you should care about the life of a weird nerdy girl you’ve barely met, but you cared enough to worry about me.” 

His said nothing, his eyes burning into hers. His jaw was clenching slightly and his lips set into a grim line. 

“I know you’re selfless, Tora. And kind. You care more about others than you like to admit.” She held her hands against her chest, praying to whoever might listen, that it got through his thick head. 

“Are ya done?” 

“I…wait what?” she gaped, completely thrown off by his response. 

“Your little speech, are ya done?” He repeated sitting up straighter. A shudder went through her when she saw that dangerous glow in his eyes. He hadn’t smiled, or scowled, frowned, nothing. But she knew that she was now the prey and he was definitely the predator… 

“I…” 

“So ya think I’m selfless?” 

“Yes.” 

“And kind?” Poppy leaned back against the bed as she stared at him. He reached for her wrist again, pulling her him, and she bit her lip to keep herself from whimpering. Oh god, she was in trouble. She ended up pressed up against him, half on half off his lap. “Ya think I’m _kind_?” he repeated with a sneer. 

She swallowed hard, trying to get herself together. “Yes, Tora, I think you’re kind. It doesn’t matter what you do, I know it’s an act.” 

She yelped when he yanked her upwards by her arms and moaned softly when she felt his warm breath along her neck, before he spoke into her ear. 

“Even after you’ve seen me kill today?” 

“Yes,” she gasped. She closed her eyes when she felt his hand reaching for her throat. 

“Do ya want to know what they would’ve done to ya if I hadn’t saved ya?” he asked through gritted teeth as his hand caressed her neck, moving down to her shoulder. 

“N-no.” 

“Well, since I’m _not_ nice, I’ll tell ya anyways.” Before she could tell what he was doing, he pushed her down to the floor, coming over her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Need more Tora and Poppy? Check out "DISCIPLINE" an AU Doc and Nurse shorts.
> 
> 😉😉😉


	2. Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our Poppy has a secret. Tora's the one to figure it out....
> 
> All characters belong to Lilydusk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music for this chapter:  
> EMILIE AUTUMN:  
> Dead is the New Alive  
> Opheliac  
> Faces like Mine  
> Misery loves Company

He stared at her, with her brown wavy hair, her pink lips, and her wide soulful eyes that stared back up at him in confusion. 

“First, they would’ve taunted ya. They would’ve made a game out of it, played with ya mind. Just when you’d thought that you had them figured out, they’d change their tactic. Then, they would’ve stripped ya,” he reached out and he yanked her top apart, sending buttons flying everywhere. Poppy winced but didn’t try to cover herself. She blushed from the root of her head to her abdomen, and whatever other part of her he could see. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this uncovered beneath a guy. 

Oh, right! Never... 

_You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay._

“They would’ve had their hands all over ya.” Tora ran a hand slowly down the center of her chest and down her soft belly, stopping at the top of her skirt. Poppy whimpered again, not understanding why the rough feel of his fingers on her skin got her so breathless… “They would’ve teased ya. Then, they would’ve been done teasing.” Poppy bit her lip to keep from screaming in surprise when he tore her skirt apart leaving her to lay on top of the opened skirt in her underwear and bra. He had to know what effect he had on her. At this point, however, she wasn’t sure if she was trembling in fear or if he was…turning her on. 

_Damn, Poppy, you’re actually quite sick underneath all the naïve, innocent girl look._

_At least be glad you listened to Erdene and wore cute underwear with the outfit,_ her conscience told her. 

… 

**_He_ **stared. 

He didn’t want to stare. 

He was only trying to scare her. 

Except he was now staring at an almost naked Poppy as she laid beneath him. Her eyes had lost the scared look and now… he frowned slightly, they contained a different kind of fire in them. She stared at him through her dark eyelashes, her chest rising and falling, his eyes zeroed on her breast and saw that she was… 

What the… 

She wasn’t trying to fight him off and even though her body was shaking, he wasn’t so sure she was trembling in fear. Was she…? 

“Do ya still think I’m _kind_?” he questioned with a cold look at her face. She noticed he kept slipping into his ‘ya'. He did that whenever he was especially nervous, emotional. 

“I still think you’re kind.” 

His eyes widened slightly before turning back to its cold golden gaze. He saw that she wasn’t trying to escape—she was trying to make a point—so he didn’t attempt to hold her hands by her head. He wasn’t going to play nice, he didn’t feel like playing nice. His heart was still pounding from the kill and what he really wanted was something he couldn’t get from her. He needed to make his point, kick her out of his apartment, and go find himself a not-so-nice girl to play with. 

Preferably someone from outer town who wasn’t aware of his background. 

He dropped himself slightly, so he could lean over her body without putting all his weight on her. Leaning on his hands at either side of her, he lowered his mouth to her neck again, nibbling for a second, feeling her racing pulse under her skin there, before moving down to her ear—he felt her shiver and it hit him all the way to his core. 

“Am I still nice?” 

“Yes,” was her breathless answer. 

He decided to up his game and see what her reaction would be. He needed her to be intimidated by him, to want to be away from him. It would be the only way that she could live her life happily—away from all the dark and gloomy, death filled life he led. 

Staring at her, he moved his mouth over hers, so close yet not quite touching. He could feel her shuddering breaths against his lips, and when she licked her lips, he felt her tongue on his own lips. Her eyes snapped up to his eyes, light brown eyes met golden ones, one set surprised, the other filled with confusion. 

And intrigue. 

_Fuck_. He needed to get this over with quickly. The adrenaline in his body was turning into something else that he’d rather not burden her with. He doubted the bookworm would like to hear what kind of thoughts were starting to rise in his mind, and doubted she’d be able to handle what he needed… 

She moaned softly when he lifted her up enough to pull her shirt the rest of the way off, and when he’d laid her back down, he ran his hands down her bare arms causing goosebumps to rise over her body. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and concluded that all that warmth filling her body was actually … lust. 

_Jeez, Poppy._ If only Erdene and Jacob could see her now… 

Tora watched her reaction with burning interest and jumped slightly when he felt her small warm hands touch his chest. Looking down, he saw her—white against dark, a blatant comparison of what they were. 

Black and white, good and evil. Pure and soiled. Innocent versus sinful. 

“Why aren’t ya scared of me?” he asked in a rough whisper as he leaned over her again. She watched him with soft, wide eyes... “I don’t... understand.” 

_“I_ don’t understand why you don’t see that I trust you...” she looked away for a moment, a bright flush. “You’re not who you portray yourself to be. I know it’s hard out there, you have a choice—” 

“Balthuman—” 

“Doesn’t control your emotions. Or your own ideas, your happiness. Even if they control what you do on your day to day...job,” she explained. Taking a deep breath, she gave him a shaky smile before reaching out to cup his cheek. “I know you’re different. You’re not them.” 

Tora closed his eyes as she caressed his cheek. Human contact, non-sexual... When was the last time that he’d had someone show him... affection? Most people tried to keep out of his way, and he was used to the type of glances he would get from people in the street. The men he worked with kept out of his way because they feared him. 

_Balthuman_ _trained him himself since he was a child..._

_You don’t know what kind of training he’d received..._

_He’s like a well-trained dog, if I say jump, he jumps..._

**He** couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt truly accepted for being…himself… 

_Alice_. Her son. 

All his fault. 

Dead. 

He was a weapon, a deadly one. 

He snapped his eyes open and glared at her, making her pull her hand back hesitantly. He gripped her chin again, pulling her face up to his. 

“You’re playin’ with fire. I don’t play games.” And kissed her hard, the press of his lips against her taking her by surprise, so much she couldn’t hold in the moan that escaped from the bottom of her core. “Since ya like to talk about choices, I’m going to give ya two. One, you get out of this apartment and I don’t bother ya again. Ya get your life back, being Super Nerdy Woman or whatever shit ya like and forget you’ve met me.” 

Poppy nodded at his words. “What’s choice number two?” 

“You stay here,” he stated as he pressed his forehead to hers. She smelled like sunshine, like joy, and he sounded like an idiot. But an idiot who was actually getting really turned on by the curvy editor lying underneath him. “But you’re not leaving until the morning.” 

The confusion in her eyes was evident, as was the realization when it hit her. He watched her eyes go from their normal puppy-dog-eyes look to extra saucer size. 

“Oh.” 

“Better use that brain of yours and decide now, Bobby.” 

“I…” 

“Because if ya don’t make up your mind, I’m making it up for ya.” 

… 

Poppy could feel her heart pounding, and she wondered if he could hear it as well. 

_Fight or flight, Poppy._

She should be scared shitless. She should be running for the hills screaming bloody murder. But no, she laid there with her hands pressed against Tora's chest, staring up at him like a love-struck fool. 

She couldn’t believe her luck. 

Good or bad, it depended on whoever thought about it. For herself, she figured the stars had aligned just right. 

“A-and if I stay?” she heard herself asking the man above her in a voice that sounded so unlike her own—husky, low, sensual. 

His eyebrows furrowed as he studied her. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. 

“I’m not gonna be gentle.” 

“I’ve never imagined you’d be gentle,” she confessed with a shaky laugh as she blushed brightly. It took him a moment to realize she’d admitted to thinking about being with him and it made his heart clench. 

“I just killed ten people, Bobby. I’m currently on an adrenaline high where I don’t think I could control myself.” His hand skimmed over her collar bone sending ripples of warmth through her. He scowled. “I…Last chance, Poppy. I’m not gonna—” 

“I’m staying.” 

_“Thank fuck.”_

Tora dropped his mouth to Poppy's with a groan, tasting her soft lips and swallowing her moan at the feel of his hard kiss. She threw her arms around his waist since she was too small to reach around his neck. 

He raised himself onto his elbows, resting them on either side of her head as he plundered her mouth. She opened her mouth with a small gasp at the feel of his hard body against hers—and realizing that the bulge in his pants was not a damn flashlight (somebody was happy to see her!)—and he took the opportunity to use his tongue to taste her, running it over her lips before plunging inside. His body hummed with the knowledge that this tiny woman beneath him wanted him, and he’d be a fuckin' liar if he said he hadn’t imagined her like this since the beginning when he’d accidentally photographed her exposed chest. 

The first time they’d been completely alone and able to get to know each other was at Alice’s sushi place and he’d had to think about all sorts of useless nonsense to keep his body in check. She was a tempting little thing, unaware of the power of her soulful eyes and hot little body. It wasn’t that she flaunted it, it was that she _didn’t_ flaunt it which attracted him to her in the first place. 

It had been a pleasant surprise to see that she was sassy, smart, and not afraid to put him in his place. She’d punched him in the face, for fuck’s sake, not only once, but twice with today’s hit. His little hamster was ballsy… and about to get his own…. 

He chuckled against her neck where his mouth currently was and she pulled back a bit to see his face, a questioning look on her face… 

“What’s so funny?” 

“The little hamster has big balls after all,” he replied and she rolled her eyes at him when she remembered their first conversation regarding hamster balls. “But not bigger than mine,” he taunted making her raise her eyebrows in surprise. 

He caught her mouth in another kiss, feeling her gasp again when he took her hand and slid it between them, placing it over himself. 

“Pull my zipper down, Bobby,” he told her between kisses. He groaned when her hand gave him a squeeze, running her hand along the length of him. “I wanna feel your pretty little hand touchin’ me.” 

She hesitated a moment. She hadn’t done this before, not even with Julri. Sure, they’d made out and dry humped each other, but she hadn’t actually touched him like she was touching Tora. If the size underneath his jeans was any indication, Tora was definitely bigger than Julri by _a lot_. 

She decided she didn’t care. 

She’d almost _died_ today, dammit. She would’ve gone down without actually experiencing sex for the first time… Should she tell Tora that? 

Poppy tried to focus her attention on Tora’s zipper so that she didn’t yank on any necessary bits, but it was kind of hard (hehe, Poppy) when his lips kept nibbling on her. His large bear—no, tiger—hands weren’t shy at all as they closed around her breasts. She wasn’t a small woman by any means, and his hands were able to enclose almost her whole breast! If that was a sign… 

“Yeesss… touch me, Poppy. Slide your hand in there.” He was breathing as hard as she was when her hand closed around his… penis? Should she call it a penis, what was she supposed to call it? She blushed when she remembered his joke about a _jackfruit_... She hadn't seen one before but if it was about that size… 

She hoped he didn’t expect her to talk dirty ‘cause she definitely didn’t have practice with that! 

“FUCK, BOBBY!” 

“AH!” She moaned loudly when she felt his thumbs rub over her nipples. Julri definitely had not done that. She didn’t realize that she’d also squeezed Tora harder than intended… 

“ _Yessss_. Fuck.” His voice was normally deep, but now through the haze of arousal it sounded more like a deep growl. He continued playing with her breasts, squeezing, molding, paying extra attention to the middle of them. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Move ya hand, Poppy.” 

She lifted her hand off. 

“No, move it, like this,” he panted as he brought her hand back to his hard and painful erection, closing her hand around it and using his own hand to move hers in an up and down motion. She took a ragged breath and looked up at his face. His eyes were closed, teeth gritted as he enjoyed her hand moving on him. 

He was beautiful. Erotic. Sensual. 

And she was making him feel that. Her! 

She slid her other hand around to touch his back, to explore the sinewy muscle there. His body was a furnace, hot, wonderfully heavy on her own. 

She shivered when she felt his hands snap the bra from the front leaving her breasts naked to his eyes. With a hot look, he reached up and molded them, bringing them together, and her eyes widened, when he brought his mouth down to kiss her nipples. 

“Oh! Oh my, Tora!” she gasped, followed by a moan when his lips closed over one nipple. Licking, tasting, biting, finally sucking it into his mouth “Oh, god, oh god, oh god!” 

She was hurting. She knew what it meant, that heat settled in the pit of her stomach, between her legs. She tried to twist her legs to alleviate the burning between them. 

“Please, please…!” 

“What?” 

“I-I don’t know!” she was gasping now, moving, trying to push her lower body against his, her hand-job long forgotten. 

Tora dropped one hand from her breast to her thigh. She whimpered when she felt his fingers skim over her thighs, like a butterfly’s kiss upon her skin. And then… 

“Oh shit!” 

“Damn, Bobby! You're fuckin’ _wet_ …” 

The little angel on her shoulder had abandoned ship a long time ago, leaving its sinful counterpart behind. 

“I can’t help it!” she whispered in a rush. She reached up and grabbed his hair, pulling it down so she could kiss him. He groaned, thrusting himself eagerly against her panty clad pussy. “Please, please, please!” 

Please what? She didn't know, she didn't care. 

Tora watched Poppy twisting underneath him. With a hand between her legs and moving over her panty, the other on her nipples and his mouth on hers, his body was on fire. He needed her and he needed her now. 

He let go of her other breast and sat up. Eyes roving her body, like a fuckin' Greek sculpture with her milky skin, her breasts could be another Wonder of the World. Her eyes were closed, head thrown back, legs parted to accommodate him. 

Fuck yeah. He’d definitely imagined her like this before. Was he dreaming? 

He shoved her panties down her thighs, pulling it off her legs. Grabbing one leg, he lifted it up so he could kiss the inner part of her ankle, her calf. 

She was so beautifully pink and wet, and he couldn’t wait any longer. 

He fuckin' hoped she was ready for him, that he’d be able to handle him… 

He shoved his pants off, kicking them off to the side before he came over her again. The feel of her smooth, hot, naked skin against his was heaven. 

He nudged Poppy’s thigh to the side, opening her up for him, and with the other he pumped himself twice. Fuck, he was hard. 

He nudged her other side wider and held on to her thighs as he pressed home in one push. 

Poppy’s eyes snapped open with a yelp, her nails digging into his arms. 

“Oh!” she stuttered out with a… scared, surprised look on her face. 

“Poppy?” he rasped out in confusion because something weird was going on here. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Need more Tora and Poppy? Check out "DISCIPLINE" an AU Doc and Nurse shorts.  
> Click on my name and then get some fun reading done😉😉


	3. Giving Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truths come out...and confusion increases. Opposite attracts seems to actually be a real thing.
> 
> All characters belong to Miss Lilydusk.  
> Follow "Midnight Poppy Land" on Webtoons,  
> and her awesome patreon page for goodies. :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {Pierce the Veil}--  
> Balcony Scene  
> A Match Into the Water  
> The First Punch (har har har har)  
> _________  
> {Billie Eilish}--  
> Xanny  
> idontwannabeyouanymore  
> Lovely  
> Watch  
> \-----  
> {Deftones}--  
> 976-Evil

….............

 ** _He_** nudged Poppy’s thigh to the side, opening her up for him, and with the other hand he pumped himself twice. Fuck, he was hard 

He nudged her other side wider and held on to her thighs as he pressed home in one push. 

Poppy’s eyes snapped open with a yelp, her nails digging into his arms. 

“Oh!” she stuttered out with a... scared, surprised look on her face. 

“Poppy?” he rasped out in confusion because something weird was going on here. 

She was brought out from her haze when she felt something push into her, the burning feeling and the hard pinch of something sliding inside of her... 

“Poppy?” 

Panting, she opened her eyes to look at Tora who had the most confused look on his face. He was kneeling between her open legs, large tanned hands holding each of her thighs open to his... and he was very naked, very large, very hot and hard inside of her—that's what it was, she realized when he shuffled slightly and she felt the pull of his erection inside her body. 

She winced and grasped at the torn skirt underneath her. 

“Yeah?” 

“I... I’m not understanding,” he started as he stared at the junction of her thighs where his body was connected to hers. Eyebrows furrowed, he closed his eyes in thought. “I am not sure...but I will take a wild guess here...” he opened his eyes and set them on hers. “But... Poppy, are you a virgin?” 

She blushed prettily, her hands rising up to cover her breasts. Ah, that rack of hers that could make a grown man cry. He should know. 

“No.” 

He contemplated her answer for a second, but he wasn’t so sure... 

“Well, I was. Now, I’m not,” she explained as her dark eyes searched his. The tick on his jaw was back. “Technicalities.” 

“Dammit, Bobby! You can’t just—what the...Agh!” He growled the last part anxiously and Poppy’s eyes widened when he made to move away from her. Tightening her legs around his waist, she grasped at whatever part of him she could reach to stop him. 

Grasping his arms, she frowned. “What are you doing?” 

“We can’t do this,” he grunted but didn’t try to pull anymore, just stared back at her. 

“And why the hell not?” 

“Dammit, Poppy! Ya were a goddamn virgin! How the hell... I thought ya had a boyfriend, why the fuck would ya still be a fuckin’ virgin?” He looked away angrily, running a hand through his hair. 

“Because I didn’t want him,” she muttered. She tugged on his hand when she saw that he wasn’t looking at her. “Tora?” 

It was wrong, it was wrong, it was all _very_ fucking wrong. 

He should not be the one pressed between her naked thighs right now. Poppy didn’t need his type of scum self being all over her body. She was a damn book editor, she slept with plush dolls in her bed. She had cutesy succulents hanging around her apartment, listened to fuckin’ indie pop or whatever the fuck kind of music was popular these days. 

“Tora?” 

He fucking killed some men about two hours ago. 

“Tora? Dammit, Tora!” 

He finally took a deep breath and turned to face her again. The heat that had been in her eyes was gone, leaving behind.... sadness? 

“Tora, I didn’t want _Julri_.” She reached up for him, dragging him down so that he laid over again; cradling his face between her hands, she made him look at her. “I want _you_.” 

“Why?” 

She bit her lip. “Because you would risk your life for me, not just for my body.” 

_You don’t think he’s fragile?_

_Maybe … just a little...?_

_“_ Because you’re not a coward. Out of sight, out of mind. You still care about those around you,” Poppy watched his eyes close for a moment. “You have dimples when you smile. You curse worse than a drunk sailor, you alone could probably keep the soap business afloat for years to come. You let Alice boss you around, and you’ve let me punch you twice in the face and haven’t done anything about it,” she listed and hoped to get a reaction. 

His eyes snapped open. “Don’t do it again.” 

“Punch you in the face?” 

“I meant list stupid shit like that aloud. Someone might hear you,” he explained in a bored tone. Her heart clenched when the grim line of his mouth changed and he gave her a smug smile. “And yeah, don’t punch me either.” 

“Don’t make me angry.” 

“Ballsy hamster,” he smirked at her and she felt his hands slide up to hold her waist. She shivered, letting out a soft moan when she remembered where his jackfruit was currently lying in... 

“You oversized jerk,” she gasped. “Are we done talking?” 

He frowned. “I’m not the one for you, Bobby. So, don’t go about thinking that this means anything else than what it really is. Sex.” He pointed that out with a small rocking motion of his hips against hers. She gasped, biting her lip to keep from saying something else that he thought was stupid. He kissed her hard, enjoying the low moans that she let out into his mouth. 

_Fuck. Fucking ballsy hamster._

He noticed that her hands were no longer holding his face but had slipped into his hair. He pulled out of her halfway and slid back in slowly, giving her body time to accommodate to his, and felt the pull of her hands in his hair as they clenched in it. She gave another shuddery moan and jerked his head down to hers. 

“Kiss me, kiss me.” She urged him, seeking his mouth with his own. “Oh, shit!” 

“And you call me a drunk sailor,” he mused with a smirk against her lips. She was so damn warm, soft, round in all the right places he could get drunk off of her. 

“Fuck the drunk sailor!” she muttered in between kissing him. He bit at her lower lip with a chuckle. 

“That’s what I’m trying to do...” He murmured against her mouth. 

She’d kissed Julri hundreds of times, played the dry humping game but it had never felt like this. His mouth, his lips were surprisingly soft against hers. It was ironic, that the man whose face was in a constant scowl could be such a great kisser. 

He moved his lips against hers, peck peck peck, tease tease, and when he felt her open her mouth to complain, he’d plunge right in, searching her mouth, sucking her tongue right back into his. What the hell. How could something so...random feel so damn erotic? The way he kissed her resembled the way he thrusted against her and it had her panting as if she’d ran a mile. 

“T-Tora!” she whimpered when he hit a certain spot within her. She gasped loudly, clasping her arms around his forearms. “Oh god, oh god!” 

Her heart was racing again, her stomach fluttering, she wasn’t sure what the hell was happening, but she was sure it was probably just her body wiring up for something big. She wasn’t so innocent that she didn’t know what an orgasm was, she was a single and curious 21-year old who’d had to edit certain Fabio books, but damn. This was different, the way she felt, so damn freaking full— and she had been right, the bulge underneath the jeans had not lied... 

Part of her was still shy and very aware of everything that was going on, the feel of his skin, his body, the roughness of his legs against her smooth ones. Fucking hell, he was inside her! That same man who’d scared the hell out of her during that day in the train when he’d taken the picture with her boobs hanging out, the same man who’d dragged her across town as they ran after Mr. Lam, then after his car which was getting towed... This was that same man. 

What the hell was she supposed to do with her stupid arms? She dropped them to his waist, enjoying the feel of his hard abs, of his trim waist that dipped and rose to form his beautiful behind. The little devil on her shoulder was giggling and smirking at Poppy, giving her a high five as a “just do it!” sign so that she remembered she could very easily slide her hands down and give him a squeeze. 

_Do it, do it, do it!_

“Fuckin' Bobby, you’ve been eyeing my ass since that day at Alice’s, haven’t ya?” Tora commented when he felt her squeeze his butt, and he lifted himself up on his elbows to look at her. “You made me walk up the stairs in front of you.” 

She felt her face heat up. “And?” 

“Ha!” 

Poppy’s eyes widened when Tora grabbed her left leg and lifted it up, so that it laid close to his shoulder. She gaped…there definitely was a big breeze from below. 

“Ow!” she gasped when he slipped his right hand and gave her butt cheek a sharp slap. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry. She wasn’t really sure how to react to it, but mostly she was shocked. 

That she liked it. 

And he’d noticed because she’d moaned low and long right after… 

….CUE (Billie)

“Well, well, well…” Tora murmured with bright golden eyes when he realized that she’d liked it. He wasn’t really into spanking people, usually liked his wham bam kind of deal. He saw it as a form of release from stress, but with Poppy it was something else. He figured it was because she seemed so innocent, so young, so much like the type of girl whose daddy would have an aneurysm if she’d showed up at home with Tora in tow. 

He kissed her cheek, kissed her eyelids, feeling the flutter of her eyes underneath. 

She truly was a sight to see. She wasn’t flashy or someone who would’ve caught his eye if he’d passed her in the street. She was used to wearing leggings and baggy sweaters with funny quotes. He'd seen her in a jean skirt with another baggy top. He’d seen her in jeans and his sweater that fit her like a blanket—his little Dobby the Elf Hamster. Sure, he’d seen her breast when her shirt had torn from her bicycle crash, but... 

This was different, _she_ was different. She dressed for comfort, for the type of job she had. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagine that she was hiding a goddess’ body underneath all those layers of clothes. She was perfect, the one who had molded a new image of his perfect woman in his mind... 

He watched her breasts bouncing every time he’d sink into her and there was nothing that could possibly turn him on more than her underneath him. 

_What, so just because I saved you from a fall, you decide to fall in love with me?_

_I didn’t **fall in love** with you, you arrogant jerk!, she’d screamed at him, pulling on his sleeve to stop him._

“What?” Poppy asked him with a nervous smile as she raised an arm to cover her breasts. He got her hand, lifting it to his mouth to give her palm a kiss. “I... Tora?” she looked even more confused. 

“You’re very beautiful, Poppy,” he murmured with a small smile. She looked like she wanted to say something, opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. With a blush, she looked away from him and it was his turn to frown. “Bobby?” 

She wasn’t sure what to feel about his words. Hadn’t he just told her that this meant nothing? She understood that well, she wasn’t one to fill her head with stories and fantasies. She was a realist. She understood that he’d been raised—if you called it raising—by the Balthuman Clan to be a killing machine, even Quincey had mentioned it when she’d met him briefly. He’d apologized for Tora’s behavior letting her know that it was a norm for him to be cold and detached. 

Poppy wasn’t stupid even if acted like it, except Tora obviously had seen through her façade... Just like she had seen through his. She had recently gotten her heart broken by someone whom she had entrusted it to, and she didn’t want to go there again so quickly. 

Except... 

“This... doesn’t mean anything...” she started slowly, heart pounding and stomach sinking. Little Devil on her shoulder had stopped smirking and now had a confused look as well. Poppy glanced back up at Tora. Beautiful Tora with his tan skin, beautiful swirl of colors covering it, and those strange golden eyes of his. Looking at him, made her heart hurt. “Kiss me?” 

He nodded at her, but inside he was wondering whether he should be concerned at her sudden change in attitude. He pulled her towards him by her thighs, sinking deeper into her, watching her keen from the feel of him. 

He got her hands and pulled them up over her head while he kept pistoning into her. 

She could hear the slapping of their skin as they came together. She could hear someone moaning loudly, then realized it was herself. She was most definitely not a loud person, but right now, she didn’t care if she was making all sorts of noises. 

She wailed when he pulled out of her. 

“Huh, wha-" 

“Roll over.” 

“What?” 

“On your stomach,” Tora said hurriedly, voice deep and a bit rough as he turned her. 

She stared back at him confused, a little daze. 

“What are you- Oh my god!” she keened as he plunged back inside behind her. “To-raa!” 

“Ya feel amazing. So fuckin’ tight! You're just the fit for me!” He rasped against her ear. He leaned over her back, holding her breast, as he pounded into her from behind. “Ya feel so damn perfect. I've been thinking about this for a while!” He wasn’t lying. He had been thinking about it every single time she had run into him. He spent the time he wasn’t thinking about work, thinking about _her..._ and the many ways that they could do this... 

“Yes! Yes!” she whimpered as he begun thrusting deeper, slowing down only to thrust hard. 

“You feel it? 

“Yes!” 

“So damn tight!” He groaned and pulled back, almost all the way out. 

“Ah!” she gasped. “Please!” 

“Do ya like it?” 

Moan. He teased her, barely in her. 

“Do ya like me in ya?” 

Whimpering, she nodded and moaned loudly when he slammed back inside. 

“Ya teased me for so long. Ya were right there and I didn't know about this!” 

“Tora!” He could see she was trying to push against him, but he pressed her down against the floor. The sound of their bodies slapping against each other was all they could hear, could feel the way their skin would slide again each other, hot and moist from their exertion. He couldn’t handle it anymore, the way she felt around him. She had been there all along, this possibility there all along, and they’d wasted so much time... 

“Do you want me?” 

“Tora!” 

“What do you want?” 

“You?” 

“Tell me!” 

“You!” 

“Poppy…” He kissed her neck, sucking at it. Marking her because dammit, he needed it. 

“Tora! Tora! AH!” She wailed loudly, grasping at the torn top and skirt that had been long forgotten when he’d torn them off of her. 

“Fuck!” He muttered as he continued pushing into her again. He pushed, pushed, pushed until she was writhing underneath him. 

“Ah!” She keened and then she came apart. Shaking uncontrollably under him, she cried out, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. 

He thrusted eagerly, probably too roughly, but he didn't care anymore. He didn’t think she cared anymore either. 

. .. Cue (976-evil)

He stopped and turned her again so that he sat on the floor. She sat back on her knees trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. She was a little dazed, her hair was a mess and her body was on fire. He patted his thigh and motioned at her with his finger in a ‘come hither’ way, his eyes giving off a predatory glow. She shuddered nervously, excitedly. 

Eyes bright, body trembling, she climbed over his lap, throwing a leg over each side of his hips. She rubbed against him, enjoying the hot hardness of him pressing against her. 

“Do you… maybe we should move to the bed.” He said as she kissed his neck, throwing her arms around his shoulders. 

“Nah. Here is perfectly fine.” 

“Hold on.” 

“Alright then,” he said, grabbing her chin and pulling her face close for a quick kiss. 

She took hold of him, stroking him a few times, before pressing him to her entrance. 

Pausing a second, she lifted then pressed down slightly. 

“Ah. Fuuu…” He groaned, throwing his head back. “Fuck, fuck. You're so hot...” 

“Give me a second. You're pretty big.” She said as she moved up a bit, to sink a little lower again. She did that a few times until she felt she would be okay, then sank down hard, taking him in completely. 

“Fu-Bobby, either ya move or I move. But it has to be _now_.” He groaned, grasping her hips, squeezing them in his big hands. 

“Touch me, touch me!” she panted, pulling his hands to her breasts again. He pinched her nipples and took her mouth again, kissing her wetly, gasping into her mouth as she began to move over him. 

She grabbed his hair, as she kissed him harder. 

“Harder!” He rasped, “I gotta fu…dammit!” 

“Ah!” she moaned loudly when he started thrusting into her hard, just at the time she pressed down. “Ah!” 

“Fuck yes!” he began moving hard against her, enjoying the feel of her breasts rubbing against his chest every time she moved. He soon started to slam himself upwards into her, timing it so that it was when she would be sinking down. He was surprised that she was taking all of him, but figured it was because she was very aroused and because they’d already done it before, her body able to accommodate him, like a puzzle piece sliding into the correct spot. 

“Yes! Yes!” 

“You look so dang beautiful on me!” He grunted and then kissed her again. 

“Tora!” 

He flipped them over suddenly, so that she laid beneath him as he continued to pump into her. She held on for dear life because there really was nothing else that she could do. She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen after this was over. Didn't want to think about how she was pretty much just another body for him to use. 

_Tora doesn’t have girlfriends. He has women..._

_Tora doesn’t like women. I think he swings the other way..._

_Tora has a long list of broken hearts, list of conquests..._

But nobody besides Quincey knew who she was, and she didn’t have any connections to anyone else in his world. The only reason she’d gotten kidnapped was because they’d seen them come out of Alice’s restaurant and have their loud argument. Once this was over, she was going to make sure to leave and never come back. 

That was going to be the best thing to do. She refused to be another broken heart. This didn’t mean anything at all. 

_Never fall in love with the first person you give your body to, especially if it’s just sex_ , Erdene had warned her. _Hormones and sexual haze can make you imagine that you’re in love..._

Poppy felt her eyes begin to sting. She was so stupid. Tora moved, pulling her up slightly, he slid his left arm under her to cradle her to him. He snapped his hips against her, groaning when she clenched in response gasping loudly. There was a fire starting deep inside her... starting off as a tiny spark lighting a dark room... filling the whole place and illuminating her dim boring life. 

She cried his name out loudly as he bit her neck gently. His free arm had moved down between them to the junction of her thighs. “Oh!” she snapped her eyes open when she felt his thumb at the top, pressing that little bundle of nerves that immediately set that spark inside her fully ablaze. She couldn’t handle this, she couldn’t handle it anymore...! 

“Yeah, you can. Look at ya, look at how beautiful ya are,” Tora told her, and it hit her that she’d said the other words out loud. He stared straight into her eyes, watching the way that they glazed over, the way that she clutched his arms, trying to push him off, to pull him closer. He’d done that, thrown her into a world she’d kept herself from for twenty-one years...That she’d decided to gift him with. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered raggedly at her, watching her round eyes fill with tears as she searched his eyes for something he didn’t understand. “Why are ya crying? I... don’t cry, Bobby. Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’re almost there,” he encouraged her as he continued to move inside her. She was just mumbling random words, making sounds, there but not really. 

“T-Tora... I don’t know what’s...Ah! Tora, what’s happening. This hasn’t happened before!” she cried as he continued to work that spot between her legs. She could barely keep her eyes open. “Ah! Shit! Shoot!... Oh, my, god! Oh, god, oh god...” _Remember, remember your promise to yourself..._

She opened her teary eyes to look up at him—beautifully dark Tora with his tiger eyes... The way he was looking at her made her heart race, made her soul ache and long for things she had no business longing for. 

She started sobbing. Sobbing for the love she thought she had in Julri and that she’d lost. For the man above her that thought he was loveless, soulless, and hopeless. Sobbing because she knew that she’d broken her own promise and if she didn’t die from everything he was making her body feel, she would be dying from a broken heart... 

_When I have sex with a man, it’ll be because I love him, I’ll give myself for love…_

“Poppy, Poppy... Sweetheart... Bobby, don’t cry. Don’t cry...” he kept murmuring against her mouth. Part of him hated himself for touching something so pure as her. For taking something that didn’t belong to him. For wanting something he didn’t deserve. 

He was a bastard, he knew it. Never giving, always taking. 

She sobbed on and he caught every single sound, kissing her face and tasting every single tear that spilled from her eyes. 

“Don’t cry, Poppy, don’t cry...” 

And when she shattered with a loud cry of his name, tears still in her eyes, he was there to catch her... 


	4. Don't fall in love with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when two hardheaded stubborn fools fall in love? They dance around their emotions, their truths, and it makes for some interesting interactions.
> 
> All characters belong to Miss Lilydusk, or course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music for this chapter:
> 
> Bellyache- {Billie Eilish}  
> Fade Into You- Mazzy Star  
> Loneliness- Aaron Taos  
> Heart Beat Here- Dashboard Confessional  
> She’s Casual- The Hunna
> 
> Damn. I didn't think this would turn into chapters. I was thinking of like one chapter, maybe two at most. Now I'm having too much fun and I have various items in my brain. I might have 2 more chapters in me, especially after that Fast Pass episode today. BUT we'll see how it works out to avoid spoilers.

He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t know what he had done, or that he hadn’t done this before, it was just that this time it was different. It was _Poppy_ , it wasn’t some random woman who he’d picked up at a bar or meeting… 

Those other women knew what they were getting, were _used to_ getting from various men, not just himself. They lived for the rush of the Balthuman men… This woman in his arms, however, would never live that life— he swore to himself— even if his life depended on it. 

He raised himself onto his elbows, looking down at her face as he tried to search for something, a spark, an answer as to why she had cried. There was a difference in the tears that were sex induced and the tears of someone who was…broken… She was still breathing hard, eyes closed as her arms clung to his shoulders, but she slowly opened her eyes when she felt him tense up. 

“I…” He could tell that she was self-conscious, the burning sex high she had been on was slowly disappearing before his own eyes and she couldn’t find a spot on where to settle her own on that wasn’t him. 

“Are you okay?” he grunted and she looked at him again. 

“Yes.” 

“Are you… in pain?” He’d never been with a virgin so this was new territory for him, but he’d heard stories from the men and clan women around him. She looked surprised that he’d ask and blushed brightly before looking away. 

“No. I don’t think so. I mean, it did… hurt at first, but I think I’ll be fine…” She was rambling. He knew her enough to know that she rambled when she was nervous. She caught herself and paused. “I’m fine.” 

He studied her for another moment before nodded at her. “I’m gonna…get off you...” 

She nodded, feeling strange when he pulled out of her to lay on his back next to her. What was she supposed to do now? She wasn’t sure. Obviously, this was different than any humping session with her ex-boyfriend considering she currently laid there buck naked on the floor next to a Greek god of a man. Eek! Now that he’d moved off, she felt the chill of the morning hit her, making her skin tingle in goosebumps. 

She gasped when she felt him reach out and drag her close so that she laid on his arm against his side. She almost purred at the feel of his warm skin against her own, and she stared at the flowers on his skin that laid before her eyes. With a sigh, she rested her hand on his stomach. 

“You know this doesn’t mean that you should be in love with me,” he told her and she grinned despite herself because he’d brought it up, not her. 

“I haven’t said anything.” She stared at his jaw as he stared straight up to the ceiling. “You’ve told me that before and I gave you an answer. It still hasn’t changed...” she replied and could’ve sworn she saw his jaw clench slightly. “You arrogant jerk.” 

He turned his head slightly to study her face and she grinned at him. She knew she was lying, but she wasn’t going to mention that. If saving herself meant shutting off any sort of emotion just so that she wouldn’t break when he was around her, then so be it. 

“Don’t think that just because I like you, you can start talkin’ shit, little hamster.” He said with a smirk and she rolled her eyes at him because she knew he was just full of BS sometimes. 

“So, do you like me personally, or just the fact that you have somewhere to stick your _jackfruit_ in?” she teased. _Shut up, Poppy_ , her little shoulder angel commented. Ah, little angel was back! “Eek!” she jumped when she felt his fingers close over her breast with his giant hand. 

“You as a person, are a fuckin’ annoying hamster.” His hand was tingling from the feel of her breast and the way she was looking at him, defiantly. “However, after having had an in-depth conversation with your puss—” 

“Tora!” she scowled and dropped her hand over his mouth to keep him from talking. 

“—I think I like it better than you.” He laughed as he shoved her hand away from his face. She was red in the face and it just tickled Tora to know that she could still blush. She hadn’t changed. She was still his awkward Bobby who liked to pretend she was brave. 

His awkward Bobby... _His_? 

Shit. 

He scowled at her. 

“Well, I don’t like you either, you big blundering loaf. If I could borrow your _jackfruit_ without you attached to it, I would.” She groused as she sat up to look for the shirt he had given her to change into before. 

“Aww, how precious, Bobby.” He snorted as he gave her loosened waves a tug that had her glaring at him. “But me and my jackfruit are a 2-for-1 deal. Take it or leave it.” 

She crossed her arms and made a face at him. 

“It’s alright, I don’t need it. I’ve made it this far without it and I’m okay.” 

That had him snorting rudely. “How cute. And stupid. I think my dick rattled your brain.” 

She gaped at him. “Rude!” she huffed and pinched him on his side, making him yelp. 

“What the fuck, Bobby?” 

She gave him a stink eye before scrambling to stand up... and once again found herself flat on her back with Tora leaning over her, a bright glint in his eyes. 

“What are you...Ow!” He pinched her nipple and being how sensitive she still felt, she felt that to her core. 

“It’s a give and take game, Bobby.” He kissed her roughly as he held her chin with one hand and the other went to her hip. She could feel him beginning to harden against her stomach and she moaned softly into his mouth. She shouldn’t feel this way, so damn attracted to the man, but it was hard not to be. "And you also tried that move already."

Part of her figured it was because he was everything her dad had told her to avoid. She was a good girl, she listened to her father. She’d gone to school, gotten her degree, gotten a job, just moved about life being a helpful citizen. 

But Tora… Tora made her feel _alive_. 

“Tora, wait!” she gasped when he dropped his hand to her legs to make room for himself. His lips trailed down her neck, tasting her and making sparks of desire just burst all over her body. 

He stopped and pulled back to look at her. 

“What?” 

She licked her lips nervously. “I—I don’t think I can do it again right now.” 

Dark eyebrows furrowed together and he stared straight into hers. 

“Tora, not trying to stroke your ego, or anything… but you’re pretty big and it did hurt a bit—does pinch a bit when I move.” 

He gave her a once over, kissing her on the forehead before he moved to sit against the bed. He helped her up into a sitting position as well. 

“Alright. How about some food? I don’t know ‘bout you, but I’m starving,” he asked her as he stood up and stretched his arms out. She watched him with wide eyes, fascinated at how relaxed he now looked. The dark gloomy feel he had before was gone and in its place was… “What? I know I’m hot and whatnot, but don’t fall in love with me, Bobby,” he teased her with a smile that made his dimples show. 

Heart pounding, she shook her head. 

“I won’t fall in love with your cocky self.” This was said more of a reminder to herself than as reassurance to him 

“Yeah, just my coc—” 

“TORA.” 

“I’m calling in some pizza,” he said and went about his business as if nothing had happened between them just a half hour before. 

She slipped on the large button-down shirt he’d given her—the only real clothes she had at the moment—and found her underwear. 

She glanced at him one more time as he stood naked by the window talking on the phone. He caught her eyes and gave her a smile... which quickly turned into a smirk and he flipped her off. 

Laughing to herself she went to use the bathroom. 

She just knew her life had been changed forever. 

**….1 week later...**

It seemed after that first night together, Tora had felt something inside him click. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t stay away from Poppy. 

Superman had kryptonite, he had her. 

He’d shown up to her apartment a week later with the excuse that he was checking up on her. Truth was, he’d had a horrible day and was acting like “a little over-dramatic princess”, according to Quincey. 

  
“I should know,” Quincey had told him with a pointed look. “Can you, like, disappear for a couple hours. You’re killing my creativity with your moping.” And just like that, he’d been kicked out of Quincey’s apartment. 

Fucker. 

He’d gotten into his car with no idea of where he was headed, he only knew he didn’t want to be alone. Other times, he’d simply head over to the other side of town and pick up a girl at a bar or something—and he thought about it, but it felt...wrong? 

He thought about Poppy and her tiny apartment full of potted plants and plush toys. It was a Sunday and he was sure that she was home. And she was. 

She’d looked so surprised when she’d answered the door and there stood Tora, in all of his beautiful dark and angry glory, glaring at her. 

“Oh, hey. What brings you to this side of town?” she’d asked with a cock of her head. She was wearing sleeping shorts, a baggy t-shirt, her hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head, and from what he could see, wasn’t wearing a bra. 

He'd stepped into her apartment, slammed the door shut behind him, and taken her against the wall next to the doorway. He was sure that everyone on her floor, if not the apartment building, could hear her giddy screams... 

Later, when she stood by the couch dragging on her underwear, he grunted at her: 

“Doesn’t mean that you need to fall in love with me.” 

She blinked, underwear halfway up her thighs and stared at him. Hair a giant knot, red-faced and still slightly out of breath, she’d smiled at him. 

“I know. I’m _still_ not in love with you.” 

With a pep in her step she’d moved on to the kitchen to make themselves something to eat. 

Her response had made his heart clench. 

**…....1 month later..**. 

“You know, I’ve heard corpses that are more vocal than you.” 

“And? You talk more than enough for both of us,” Tora told Poppy as she stirred the soup on the stove. “The only times you’re not jabbering is when we’re having sex. Which if I think about it, sounds like a good idea...” he murmured as he moved to stand behind her as she cooked. His hands went to her hips, holding her in place, as his mouth went down to kiss her neck. 

“Tora!” She smacked his hand away with the spoon when he grinded against her from behind. Blushing bright red, she glared at him. “Not today.” 

“Why the hell not?” he questioned with his hands on his waist. 

“If you must know, I’m on my period.” 

“So?” 

“What do you mean ‘so’?” she glared right back, her hands on her waist now as well. Tiny hamster against giant tiger. “I am not into bloody sex!” 

“You have hands. And a mouth.” She scoffed at him before turning back to the food on the stove. “A butt. Ow! What the fuck, Bobby!?” he cursed loudly when she whacked him across the shoulder with the wooden spoon. 

“You have hands. Use them.” She kept muttering under her breath. “Disgusting.” 

Later when they were sitting cross-legged in her living room floor, food bowls on her coffee table as they watched Netflix, she told him. “You should be glad that I let you come over and eat all my food.” 

“I’m only here because Quincey kicked me out,” Tora muttered in between bites. 

“Again? It seems like it’s become a habit of his...” she commented not looking at him, but he knew what she was insinuating. He couldn’t keep his distance away from her. 

“Yeah, well, he’s a diva. And the boss, so I have to oblige.” 

“Uh huh. You just like me too much to stay away,” she answered with a giggle that had him frowning and turning slightly red. 

“Bobby, are you falling in love with me?” 

“No. Are you?” 

“Hell no! I don’t believe in all that mushy crap. I told _you_ not to fall in love with me.” 

“Still the same answer, Tora. I am still _not_ in love with you, you stubborn jerk.” 

**….1 year later...**

**“Hey** , Tora! What’s with the busted lip?” 

Tora turned and glared at the brunette sitting next to him on the couch. 

“Poopy here is what’s up,” he muttered and she rolled her eyes at him. 

“You got her mad?” Quincey asked as he came around and dropped the bowl of popcorn in front of them. 

“Poppy’s actually quite dangerous,” Erdene commented from her place on the other couch. She was sporting a low rise pair of leather jeans and a cropped t-shirt that read WEAR BLACK OR STAY NAKED. Her shiny heeled boots crossed as she sipped her wine. “I mean, I’m not surprised. She does hang out with Tora a lot.” 

Quincey who had become good friends with Erdene since they shared a love for fashion, drama, and gossip was dressed in a similar fashion—black pants, dress shirt and leather jacket. 

“She hit me with her knee.” Tora grumbled as he sipped his strawberry juice. 

“How in the world did that happen?” Quincey asked with an honestly confused look on his face. 

“Well, I was going down on—Ow! Poppy, what the fuck!?” 

“TORA!” Poppy exclaimed with an embarrassed look on her face. She had nudged him on the rib harder than she had intended. 

“Oh, ho, ho ho…..!” Erdene cackled throwing her head back. “Bad, bad Poppy. No wonder you have been pretty laid back lately.” She winked at Tora who scowled at her. 

“Oh, shut up, guys.” Grumbled a still red-faced Poppy as she stared into her wine glass. 

Poppy had stumbled out of Tora’s car when he drove her home that night. He wasn’t sure how many glasses of wine she’d had but she was obviously tipsy. 

“Goodnight, you jack ass!” she called rather loudly as she hurried across the parking lot to the building. 

“Hey, watch it, sweetheart. You’re drunk, Bobby!” He held her arm and led her to the elevator only to find that it was out of order. “Well, shit. Guess I’ll have to carry your drunk ass upstairs.” He greeted the landlord as asked if he could open the stairwell so they could go up. 

“I can walk. Thank you very much,” Poppy snapped with a stab of her finger on his chest. “I don’t want to see you for the rest of the night.” She stepped onto the first step and swayed, Tora was beside her quickly to steady her. 

“And why not?” He kept himself from laughing at her, her cheeks were flushed and eyes dazed. She had the tendency to get slightly emotional when she was buzzed. 

“Because you’re a jerk and inappropriate,” she started, her pout making him grin. “Stop laughing at me! It’s not funny! It was embarrassing!” He stopped grinning and it hit him that she was actually hurt. She was getting teary, her lower lip trembling. 

“Hey, love...” 

“Don’t call me ‘love’! You’re not in love with me!” she cried out and threw her hands to her face. He panicked and reached over to her, holding her to him so that she wouldn’t fall. She tried to slap his hands away. “No!” 

With a heavy sigh, he picked her up and she threw her arms around his neck. 

“I’m sorry, Poppy. I didn’t think that it would bother you.” 

“Well, it did! It was embarrassing! You telling my friends about our sex life, it makes me sound so... inadequate. Like I don’t know what I’m doing.” She started crying softly against his neck and it made his heart clench. He hated when she cried, and it made him feel awful since this time it was because of him. 

“I’m sorry, love...” 

“Don’t call me t-that!” she stuttered against his neck. “You’re only with me for sex. I know I’m only a stupid, nerdy girl who happens to have an available vagina.” Tora scoffed. Really? 

They reach her floor and he set her on her feet, patting her down for her keys. 

He picked her up again and carried her all the way to her room to lay her on her bed. He stripped her down to her bra and underwear, thought about it, then removed her bra as well. He found one of his shirts in her closet and pulled that over her head. 

She was still arguing, still crying, still calling him a liar and telling him to leave. 

When he’d had enough, he went to lay down on the bed and pulled her to him, holding her tight against his chest until she calmed down. 

This was weird. Usually, she didn’t care about these things, the light jokes. He didn’t understand it, but he didn’t like it. 

She sniffled loudly. “Tora?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Do you only like me because I let you have sex with me whenever you want it?” 

He sighed heavily. “No, Poppy. I don’t.” 

“Are you in love with me?” 

“I... No?” he looked down at her face which she rested on his chest. “Are _you_ in love with me, Poppy?” He didn’t know why he felt he needed to ask her that right at that moment. He’d heard that children, drunk people, and seniors always told the truth, and she was actually pretty hammered, not tipsy like he’d thought at first. 

As soon as he’d ask her that, he realized that he didn’t want to know. What if she said yes? What then? Worse, what if she said no? He didn’t think he’d like to find out how he’d feel if that was the case. 

She lifted her head and turned her body slightly so she could look straight at him. After what seemed like an eternity, she shrugged. 

“I don’t think so.” She dropped her head back to his chest and he sighed in relief. Except he wasn’t sure she’d meant no. Neither had she confirmed it. It was a maybe and he didn’t want to ask her when she was sober. “Because you’re kind of a dick.” 

He laughed at her comment, but said nothing else. Soon, she was softly snoring on his chest, while he stayed awake well into the night pondering her answer. 

….. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Need more Tora and Poppy? Check out "DISCIPLINE" an AU Doc and Nurse shorts.  
> Click on my name and then get some fun reading done😉😉


	5. Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a year later and Poppy and Tora are still going strong... with sex (ha). Because that's the only thing they agree on.  
> Together, not together, who knows anymore.  
> And it gives Tora a headache to think about how aloof she seems sometimes about the whole situation.
> 
> All characters belong to Miss Lilydusk. Thank you for these characters! 🤩

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam Fender- "Call Me Lover"  
> The Hunna- "She's Casual "  
> Daft Punk - "Something About Us"  
> Paramore- "The Only Exception"

The smell of bacon cooking woke her up… 

Hmmm. What the? 

She sat up, yawning widely as she tried to stretch out all the kinks in her muscles. She was only twenty-two, but damn, some days she felt like she was eighty—and she blamed Tora for that since he had the tendency to fold and twist her like a pretzel. Not that she minded, but she wouldn't verbally tell him that and stroke his already inflated ego. 

It smelled delicious out there, obviously breakfast was about to be served. Poppy climbed out bed and headed to the bathroom to wash up. After her teeth were brushed, face washed, and moisturizer applied, and headed out of the room to greet the chef. 

She padded down the hallway slowly, following the smell of food floating her way and filling the apartment. She stopped at the door way to her kitchen and enjoyed the view… 

Koi fish on one shoulder, flowers on the other and many beautiful designs decorated his back—and the front, since the tattoos flowed down to his pecs and covered a little over three quarters of his arms forming sleeves. She watched his muscles move under his skin as he worked at the stove. He had broad shoulders, a strong back that tapered down to his slim waist. The sweatpants he wore rode low on his hips and she wanted to giggle at the cute dimples of his lower back. 

He stood shirtless at the stove and she figured he'd never been burned, so he didn't know the dangers of cooking bacon. He liked to live dangerously... Ha. Where she was soft and slightly curvy, he was sharp edges and muscles—he'd made sure that she was properly acquainted to said muscles and edges. 

“Are you gonna stand there like a creeper or are you gonna come greet me properly?” 

He didn’t even turn around to see if it was her, he had heard her walking down the hall to him. 

Giggling softly, she went to stand behind him, and slid her arms around. She pressed herself against him and rested her cheek on his back enjoying the warm comfort of his skin. Slowly running her hands from his pecs down over the ridges of his abs, she settled her hands at either side of his hips near the top of his sweatpants. 

She felt him shiver slightly and grinned. 

“Morning.” 

He glanced at her over his shoulder, dark eyebrow raised. “That’s it? No kiss? I’m cookin' you breakfast after all, Bobby.” 

She gave him another one of her wide grins before circling him to come stand between him and the counter. He moved sideways, away from the stove so they wouldn’t burn themselves. Raising herself on tiptoes, she tilted her head back to look at him. 

“Good mooorning, Toooraa.” 

He rolled his eyes at her before slipping a hand to the back of her head and pulling her face up to his. Warm lips met hers and she opened her mouth allowing him to slip his tongue inside. She sighed happily, pressing herself against him, and tightened her hold on his waist. 

Hearing her happy little sounds, he deepened the kiss, pressing her to the counter with his hips and letting her feel him against her stomach. He had gotten in late yesterday and she’d already been fast asleep, and knowing how cranky she could get at being rudely awoken, he let her sleep on without bothering her. He had showered and slipped into the pair of loose sweatpants that she’d bought specifically for him to wear when he was over at her place. 

She’d even made a spot in her closet for him to hang his formal shirts and pants when he wanted to stay the night but had to rush out to a formal clan meeting early the next morning. One of the drawers in her dresser had been emptied especially for him as well. 

He’d stared at her sleeping form, watching her hugging that cat plush to herself, before turning the lamps off and sliding into bed beside her... 

She was breathless and panting heavily by the time that he pulled his lips off of hers. 

“Mmm. I’m going to say you’re happy to see me…” she smiled softly at him and he shrugged. 

“I suppose I have to be,” he teased in a low tone. “I’m eating your food after all,” he grinned with a wink. 

“Yeah, well, Chef Boyardee, your bacon is burning,” she pointed at the pan which was starting to smoke. 

“Well shit!” 

She tried to keep herself from laughing at him as he scraped the _very crispy_ bacon off the pan before pushing it to the back of the stove and shutting off the fire. He glared at her when she finally started laughing at the annoyed look on his face. 

“It’s your fault,” he muttered as he fanned at the smoke with his hand. 

“Why?” 

“You distracted me.” 

“You were the one who complained ‘That’s it? No kiss?’ blah blah blah.” Poppy threw back and he rolled his eyes at her again. 

“Well, I hope you like crispy bacon,” he told her with a sigh and she shrugged, moving away from the counter to find some eggs from the fridge. He eyed her tiny shorts’ seams that were pushed out to the max as they tried to cover her bottom. _Food now, desert later,_ he told himself with a smirk, immediately turning it back to a poker face when she looked at him. 

“You would think you’d had this bacon thing down by now.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Bobby.” 

…................ 

**He** stood in front of the mirror in his tiny bathroom trying to fix his stupid hair. Giving up on making it look any sort of tame, he just threw it into a half knot and walked out of the bathroom with the towel around his waist. 

He was supposed to go pick up Quincey at his apartment to take him to a book signing event, the fucking diva was finally getting what he wanted—recognition. And not because of his last name, but for his writing. He always wrote under a pseudonym to prevent backlash and favoritism from the editorial community and it had worked out for him. Turned out the normally airheaded blond man had a _good head_ for writing stories. 

“Yeah, his dick’s,” muttered Tora as he went to his closet to grab his suit...only to realize that the damn closet was pretty much empty except for a dirty pair of pants and some running outfits. “What the...Poppy!” 

He thought back to the last couple months and realized he pretty much lived with the curvy brunette now. Every time he’d come over to see her, he would bring a duffel bag with clothes since he usually stayed the night, then ran out the next morning for assignments. He kept saying that he would be back for it later, but that never happened and Poppy had eventually cleared out space in her room for his things. She didn’t mention it to him, she just did it to help him out—which it did, it made it easier to have things available at her place—it just hadn’t hit him what they were doing was _unconsciously_ moving in together. 

After he’d worked through a momentary panic, Tora sighed and grabbed his phone from his jeans, dialing her number as he started dragging on the same jeans and t-shirt he had been wearing before. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey. It’s me.” 

“Hi. What’s going on?” 

“Do you know if I have any clean suits in your place?” He hoped he did because if not, he would be running late to pick up the blond diva. 

“Hmm. Yeah, you might... Aren’t you at your apartment right now?” 

Tora grabbed his bag and headed out the apartment, slamming the door behind him. “Yeah. Except I don’t have anything in my closet except for dirty jeans and running clothes. All my shit’s at your place.” 

“Hmm. Okay. Well, go get it then.” 

“Are you there right now?” 

“No. Grocery store. About leave.” 

“Alright, see you then.” 

“Okay.” 

He climbed into his car and sped the rest of the way to Poppy’s apartment. 

She was climbing out of a taxi cab when he pulled up to her building. 

“Thank you! No, it’s fine, I got it!” she called cheerily back to the driver who waved at her as he started to drive away. “Bye!... Oh, hey you.” The way that her face brightened up when she saw him was obvious to Tora, and despite his best intention to keep a straight face, he gave her a crooked smile. 

“Give me those.” Poppy shrugged when he took the bags from her hands and started making his way inside the building with her in tow. 

“What happened to your clothes again?” 

“They’re all in here. I don’t have any clothes left in my apartment.” 

“Huhh...” 

They rode the elevator up to her floor and she led him in. He started stripping as soon as he left her bags on the counter in the kitchen. He was working on his pants by the time he reached the room, not realizing that Poppy was trailing behind him until he heard her huff. 

“Shit! Ya scared me!” He gave her a look which she ignored as she picked up the jeans he’d dropped to the floor in his haste. “What?” 

“Why do you always have to leave your stuff in random spots or lying on the floor?” she pointed out as she dumped it on the bed and started folding it up. “Always. The floor. Your shoes in the living room, your jacket on the couch half off, your shirt—just now—on the kitchen floor. Jeans, floor.” 

“I had you on the floor the day last week and I didn’t hear any complaints,” Tora muttered as he pulled on a pair of clean boxer briefs that Poppy had bought and insisted for him to wear under his suit pants because, according to her, _gave her a peace of mind knowing that he wasn’t just free-willying it at a meeting._ He’d argued that it didn’t matter what he didn’t wear under his damn clothes because no one would be looking under there, but she countered that they could tell he was just... _dangling._

_“Just dangling? Really?” he asked with a smirk._

_“What happens if you get a little too happy and you’re definitely **not** dangling anymore and since you’re not wearing underwear, now they can **see** you?” she’d asked as she’d blushed brightly resembling a tomato._

_“Bobby, first of all, the only one that gets me hard is you. Most of the time I resemble a fuckin’ eunuch. You’ve heard the stories... Second of all, everyone knows better than to say something stupid about my dick if that were to happen.”_

_“Hmph.” She crossed her arms and walked out of the room with a pout and furrowed eyebrows._

_Later, before he’d left for the_ _Balthuman_ _place, he stopped to talk to her as she sat on the couch folding laundry, most of which, he’d noticed, were his own._

_“Hey, give me your hand.”_

_She frowned up at him but extended her hand out either way, eyeing him curiously. They widened in surprise when he’d taken her hand and stuck it down his pants._

_“_ _Ya_ _’ feel that? Fuckin’ underwear,” he’d said with a huff. He’d dragged her hand out and turned to walk away and out of the apartment. He was halfway out the door when he’d felt a pull on his arm and realized it was her pulling him back._

_“Thank you,” she told him and pulled his head down for a kiss before pushing out the door again. “Be safe.”_

_After she’d shut the door behind him, he’d stood there for a minute staring at the door like an idiot and wondering why the hell his heart felt like he had just run a mile._

“Yeah, well you weren’t the one with rugburns,” Poppy complained as she sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. “Anyways, why don’t you just take your clothes so you’re not running around trying to find it.” 

Tora stopped buttoning his shirt and turned to her slowly. “Are you kicking me out?” 

“What? What do you mean? I’m talking about your clothes.” She tried to figure out what he was talking about because he had an honestly confused, hurt, and slightly annoyed look on his face. Had she said something bad?...

“All my crap is here, Poppy, not just my clothes,” he pointed out. She still looked confused so he added, “You do realize what that means, no?” 

“Uh.” 

He rubbed his hand over his face. “I pretty much live here. Together.” He watched the moment it clicked in her brain what he meant. “With you.” She blushed.

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, oh.” He turned back to the closet and continued buttoning up his shirt. He hated the fact that he felt so... uneasy. Even if he didn’t want to think about it, he was giving her time to comment on what he had just said. Did _she_ want him here or did she want her own space? Did he want to live here with her? Did he not? What did it mean? Were they truly together _together_ now? Would that mean that they _would_ be together? He hadn’t been with anyone else in over a year since he’d seen her crawl out of the damn bushes on the side of the road. 

He tensed up a little when he felt her come stand by him and put her warm hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey, Tora?” 

He turned to her. She motioned for him to lower his head, and he immediately thought she meant to kiss him. Well, shit, that was a good sign! Yes! He was smirking when their faces got closer, but then she moved her head and whispered in his ear-- 

“You better start picking up after yourself. I’m not your maid, sweetheart.” With a kiss to his cheek and a pat on his ass, she turned and walked out of the room humming to herself.

And Tora stood there like a dumbass, scratching his head in confusion, not really understanding what had just happened. 

..

“Oh, hey, you’re back!” Poppy chirped happily when she’d walked out of the kitchen and found Tora coming through the front door. He looked annoyed, but then he almost always had that look on his face, so she didn’t mention anything about it.

He huffed as he pulled off his jacket and hung it on the rack by the door. He continued to stare at her as he toed off his shoes and kicked them off to the side where she kept a tiny cubicle for them. He still didn’t say anything when he loosened his tie and she watched him, heart pounding, as he crossed the room to where she stood.

“Wha—”

He took hold of her face with his hands and gave her a hard kiss. She shivered in excitement, letting him set the pace of the kiss, feeling him go straight for her tongue. He tasted like wine, and that’s when she knew he must’ve had a horrible day. As a general rule of his, he didn’t drink, preferring teas and juices over any alcoholic beverage. She really didn’t drink either, but between Tora and herself, she truly felt like an alcoholic.

Ha.

He pressed her against the wall with his body, dropping one hand to her waist so he could slip his hand under it, touching her skin. His other hand clenched in her hair, keeping her head still and in place so he could keep get what he wanted.

“T-Tora?” she whispered as she lifted her hands up to his chest. He was breathing hard already and she could feel him between them. He lifted his head up enough to look at her properly. He had a stony look on his face, the usual laid-back glow of his golden eyes resembled an angry forest fire, ready to consume everything in its path. “Are you okay?”

“I want you.” He grunted and waited for her to reply. He tried to be receptive to her needs and wants but sometimes he felt he was a little rough with her. She never complained, unless she was truly annoyed, and she was good at letting him know what she was thinking if she felt he needed to know. But right now, he didn’t feel like he had the ability to restrain himself.

She searched his dark eyes and she must’ve found what she wanted because she nodded at him.

“Okay.”

He didn’t think twice about her answer and quickly dropped his mouth back to hers kissing her hotly as his hands went to her butt to lift her up. She threw her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he carried her to the couch where he climbed over her.

“I’m sorry. I can move us to the bed if you want,” he murmured in between kisses but she shook her head.

“It’s okay. It’s about time we christened this couch anyways,” she replied with a shrug. He shook his head at her, amusement filling his eyes for a moment before he went back to animal mode.

“Damn Bobby.” He flipped them over so he sat back on the couch, pulling her up as well. “Climb on.”

She stood for a moment, and shimmied out of her leggings and underwear, embarrassment long forgotten when she saw the way his eyes darkened as he ran his gaze over her, lingering slightly between her thighs. He raised his hips enough to slide his pants down and reached out to her, holding her by the waist so that he could kiss her. He slid his hands over her belly, down her thighs and back up, around so he could hold her butt.

He had the ability to turn her brain to mush. He’d mentioned before that the only time she would shut up was when they were having sex, and she realized now that he was right. The jerk.

She climbed over his lap, throwing her legs on either side of his hips so she could rest on his thighs. His erection between their bodies—beautifully long and hard—she let her hand close around him, giving one hard pump. He groaned against her neck and gave her butt a squeeze.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Later. After.” He mumbled and lifted her hips, letting her place him at her entrance.

She bit her lip and moaned when he pushed all the way in, feeling him just hot and throbbing inside her.

“Alright. I can wait…”

He watched her face, flushed pink as she gasped out whenever he sunk into her. Her hands were at his shoulders, clenching every time he hit a certain spot she liked. She was warm, tight, and so utterly beautiful it hurt his chest to see her move over him. She was a selfless lover, and even though he could still notice her shyness sometimes, she never backed down from a challenge.

 _It’s a give and take game, Bobby,_ he had told her once when she’d told him she didn’t need him.

He watched her breathing becoming ragged as he pushed and pulled her to him, now slamming himself into her, and he wondered if he was being too rough…

“Oh!, Oh, god, oh god. Tora! TORA!” she began to cry out as her hands dug into his shoulders.

Okay maybe not.

_Do you only like me because I let you have sex with me whenever you want it?_

_No, Poppy. I don’t._

_Are you in love with me?_

_I...No?...Are **you** in love with me, Poppy?_

_I don’t think so._

That had neither been a yes or a no, and it scared the shit out of him that it could go either way. He watched her open her eyes and look at him, eyes unfocused from all he was giving her. Not giving, more like taking, but he didn’t want to think about that.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” she keened and with a high-pitched moan, she came, gasping his name over and over again. She stared at him with a lost look on her face as he continued moving under her.

“Fuck…” he groaned as he threw her arms around her back holding her to him until finally he came with a moan as well. She was warm, alive… and the smell of her strawberry shampoo was comforting to him.

They sat there, trembling in the after math, him taking in the soothing smell of Poppy as he tried to figure out why it made him feel that way.

“Tora?”

“Hmm.”

“Want to talk about it now?”

“Hmm. No. Can we talk about it later?”

“Alright.”

Poppy laid on the fluffy carpet on the floor next to the couch, with Tora half on her with his head resting on her breasts. After that first round, they’d taken a quick five-minute breather of silence until he’d begun kissing her again, which soon turn into this second round. Now, worn out and hungry, they laid on the floor trying to catch their breath.

Absently, she played with his raven hair, stroking his scalp gently with the pads of her fingers. Maybe it was her sex-laden imagination, but she could’ve sworn she had heard him purr…

“Hey, Tora?”

“Hmm.”

“You’re sure you’re not in love with me, right?” she teased and he bit the side of her boob gently, making her jump and give him a look.

“Of course not.” He muttered and heard her giggle.

Truth was, it scared the hell out of him to think that he wasn’t so sure anymore….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Need more Tora and Poppy? Check out "DISCIPLINE" an AU Doc and Nurse shorts.  
> Click on my name and then get some fun reading done😉😉


	6. Baby Beanies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poppy's too nice. Erdene and Quincey have a thing?  
> Sunday brunch with the Balthumans and Tora freaking out about baby beanies...  
> Oh. Just another day in the life of Poppy and Tora.  
> ............................................
> 
> Hellooo beautiful people! I am back from the land of the Sleeping Dead. Sorry that it's taken me a whole day to post, and there's no hanky-panky in this one, but I'm already planning the next one (^_*). Maybe we'll see a flustered and jealous Tora next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music for this chapter:
> 
> “Westside”- the kooks 
> 
> “Free animal”- Foreign Air 
> 
> “Pieces”- Andrew Belle 
> 
> “taking you there”- Broods 
> 
> "Sea of Love"- Cat Power

…........... 

It wasn’t until much later when they laid in bed together that Poppy remembered to ask Tora why he had been so upset. 

He laid on his stomach, head resting on his pillow as he watched Poppy who had been trying to crochet something for the last hour or so. It was peaceful, being like that. He could be around her for hours on end never speaking a word and she’d be okay with it. She didn’t question him when he was having a mood, unless she felt it was necessary and that he needed to talk it out. 

It was easy, not having to be on his guard all the time, whenever he was with her. Sure, she had enough conversation for both of them, but it wasn’t all stupid girly crap. She had a brain and she knew how to use it, that was something he’d noticed since the first time she’d met him, and it had drawn him to her like a moth to a flame. 

Eyebrows furrowed, she twisted her hand and dipped the needle under a loop as she tried to pull the yarn through it... and failed miserably. She groaned and threw the yarn and needle over the bedside. 

“Angry much?” 

“I just can’t seem to get the hang of it!” she whined as she sat back and rested herself against the bed board. “I’ve looked all through YouTube and tried to find the easiest tutorials, but my hands just can’t seem to get the hand of it. Apparently, I don’t know how to use my fingers!” She pouted as she scrolled through videos on her phone screen. 

“Hey.” 

“What?” she grunted with a pout and looked at him. She frowned when he took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. 

“I have to disagree. I love how well you use your fingers,” he said straight-faced, but she heard his underlying teasing tone. Finally, he smirked. 

“What... Shut up.” She grinned and pulled her hand back from his grip. He chuckled and went back to staring at her. 

“What were you  tryin  ’ to do?” 

“Baby beanie.” 

“Oh....Wait. WHAT THE FUCK?” 

Tora had never understood why people liked to do shit like crocheting and knitting. A couple years back, Quincey had gotten into knitting because apparently it would set him in the right mindset for his next book. What kind of book he was writing about, he’d never know, but it might’ve not seemed like a great idea after a while because Quincey had given up the hobby and thrown the supplies away. 

Tora had tried to get him to keep the needles stating it would be good for stabbing people... 

“Baby beanie.” 

“Oh....Wait. WHAT THE FUCK!?” 

“Ah!” Poppy screamed throwing her hands to her chest. She gaped at Tora who had jumped out of bed as if it was on fire. He had a slightly crazed look on his face and was turning redder by the second. “What’s your problem!?” she yelled back after she’d been able to catch her breath. 

“Why the fuck would you be crocheting a baby beanie for?” 

“What do you mean  _why?_ Because it’s necessary?” she frowned at the wide-eyed look he gave her. “Are you okay? There’s a vein twitching on your forehead...” 

“When were you planning to tell me?” 

“Tell you what?” 

“Ab—what? W-what do you mean  _what_ ?” he started pacing, running a sweaty hand through his hair. Poppy crawled over to the edge of the bed to stare at him. 

“About the baby?” 

“Yes!” he stared at her like she was crazy for being so calm. Why was she being so calm!? “So, you admit there is one!” 

“Uh, yeah. There  _has been_ one for a while... Why does it matter to _you_ ?” she asked through squinted eyes. 

He stopped and stared at her. She looked amused, but mostly confused. He gave her a once over, focusing over her abdomen which didn’t seem any different than before, but then again, she had always had some meat on her bones. 

She saw him studying her and she looked down at herself. What was he looking at...? It suddenly hit her that he thought... she was pregnant. She started laughing at the realization and how silly the idea sounded, his reaction overly dramatic to something like that. 

“Tora?” 

“What, Poppy?” he asked through gritted teeth as he held his hands over his face. 

“Tora, come here you.” He looked at her through his fingers and sighed. She patted the spot next to her on the bed, pulling him down because he looked unsure. “Did you think I was pregnant?” 

He flushed and looked away from her. 

“Tora?” 

“So, that’s not why you were making the hat?” 

“No. It’s not for me.” 

He sighed and let himself fall backwards onto the bed. “Alright. Whose baby is it?” 

“  Erdene’s  .” 

“ERDENE’S!? That doesn’t make it any better. You know she was hanging out with Quincey, right? What if it’s his kid? You know how horrible that would be? Another blond, bossy, dramatic Balthuman to care for.” Tora groaned dramatically and threw his arm over his face. 

Poppy had to roll her eyes at him. He was talking about bossy and dramatic and acting exactly like it. She didn’t think a kid between Quincey and Erdene would be dramatic, perhaps a little bossy, but of course that would never happen. Quincey liked his dates—from both sides of the spectrum— way too much to settle down any time soon. 

“Yeah, I walked in on them one time in Quincey's office at work.” The tall, slender girl had been dry humping the blond man as he sat on his tall office chair. Neither one of them had noticed Poppy’s presence and she was glad for that, except the image had engraved itself into her eyeballs until she was ready to bleach it out. “But it’s not  Erdene's  baby. It’s for her cousin. Erdene simply asked me if I could crochet her a set of hats and booties. The problem is, it’s been so long since I’ve crocheted anything, so I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

Tora finally looked at Poppy who stood up to pick up the yarn and needle she’d thrown over the side. 

“Now, are you going to tell me why you were all upset earlier?” 

He grunted his response before rolling over onto his stomach again, so he didn’t have to look at her. 

“Really mature.” She climbed over the bed, over him, and sat back on his butt. Leaning forward, she pressed her hands into his shoulders, massaging the knots he felt there. He groaned softly at the pressure but said nothing else. “But really, I wanna know.” 

“Doesn’t matter.” 

“I just let you do me twice. And I burned dinner tonight ‘cause of that. I think I deserve something.” 

He turned his head and snorted rudely. 

“You’re using sex as a weapon?” 

“It’s a  _give and take game, sweetheart_ ,” was her answer in a low growly voice that he figured was her imitation of him. Ah, his sassy hamster. 

“I think I’m a bad influence on ya'. You’re getting too snappy with me.” He murmured with a smirky grin against his arms. 

“Yeah, well, I was hoping to linger around long enough for you to gain _some_ manners.” She kneaded at a particular spot on his shoulder that had him wincing. “ I’ve got my weapons.” 

“Yeah, like your beautiful, tight, pink  pu  —ow.” 

“Don’t be rude. Now tell me.” 

Tora groaned. He didn’t want to talk about what got him edgy. The more she knew about him, the more she got attached, the more _he_ got attached to her. What if some day, months from now, she decided she was done with him? She could easily take his information and stories and use them against him. 

_Well, she’s already stuck around for a year. With your attitude, she should’ve been gone_ _at least a week after you first fucked her._

“It’s alright.” Tora rested his head on his arm again and listened to Poppy. “You don’t have to tell me anything now, I know you’ll tell me eventually…Hmm. I didn’t mind earlier…” she told him with a giggle as she continued to press against his shoulders. 

He sighed. She was like that, understanding, never pushy—well, not _always_ —and she didn’t nag him . Between her and Quincey , the blond man was the one that acted more like a nagging girlfriend than Poppy who slept in his bed. 

Tora turned over slightly, catching Poppy off guard who yelped in surprise landing sideways next to him. He threw an arm around her waist and dragged her closer to him. Still resting on his stomach, head on his right arm, he stared at her. 

She blushed prettily as she stared at his serious face. 

“You’re too nice sometimes,” he told her. 

“I am—wait what?” 

“People probably think I’m sleeping with Quincey rather than you.” Poppy studied his face, seeing how he wasn’t teasing. There were other times when he’d told her the same thing, that she was too nice. 

_The_ first time they’d been out and about walking around the park, she’d burst into tears when she’d seen a mama cat wandering around with her two kittens. He’d stared at her in disbelief and told her she was being ridiculous. She’d apologized but kept on crying saying it wasn’t her fault he had no heart. 

Later, he’d realized it was just her  PMS'ing  and after that, he always made sure that she was stocked up on chocolate, tissues, and ice cream and tried to keep away from her for at least a week. It didn’t take him too long to realize that she was going to continue to have her periods and if he was going to be hanging around her, then he was going to have to suck it up and get used to her mood swings. 

One time, he told her that if she was going to be acting like a bitch to him (she’d thrown a plate at him after he’d made a joke about her cheeks) and not to the man who cut her off in the line to pay at the grocery store, she needed to sort out her priorities. She’d told him that being rude to people wasn’t going to solve anything, and paid her stuff, walking off with her bags without letting him help her. 

He was confused when she’d walked past his car with her bags in arms and straight into the sidewalk to walk home. He’d started the car and driven alongside her on the road, passenger side window down as he told her to get in the car. 

‘  _Dammit, Poppy, get in the car.’_

_‘No._ _I’m walking home.’ She hadn’t even looked at him._

_‘Seriously?_ _You’re acting like a child.’_

_‘I’m_ _twenty-one, Tora. That’s pretty damn close. I’d like to think I’m acting my age. You on the other hand, act as if you were an 80-year old grouchy man, instead of your age. You’re twenty-six, Tora!’_

_‘Yeah? Well, at least I don’t sleep with dolls on my bed like a four-year-old.’_

_That stopped her in her tracks, and she walked over to his car. She leaned close to the passenger window glaring at him._

_‘Alright, maybe I do have plush dolls on my bed, but you’re the one who can’t keep his hands off this child._ _And if I recall correctly, you don’t seem to mind the dolls when you’re sleeping in my bed. Hmph!’_

_She’d turned back and began walking off again with her head held high._

_She was so beautiful when she was in a snit, fiery and he was surprised sparks didn’t fly off her_ _head. He liked her sassy and snappy—just not at him._

_‘Dammit, Poppy, get in the car.’_

_‘If I want a ride, I can just call_ _Quincey. I’m sure he’d be happy to give me a ride home.’_

_‘Yeah, well ****_ _**Quincey** _ _isn’t your_ _bo_ _—uh, bedmate!’_ _. Poppy rolled her eyes and ignored his comment._

_Finally, she flipped him off._

_He_ _cursed and sped off…_

_Only to turn around after a block and_ _come back to find her._

_She stood on the sidewalk, arms crossed_ _, as she waited for him._

_Saying nothing, she_ _yanked open the door and got inside, slamming it close behind her. Normally, she tried to be gentle with the car because she knew it was like his baby, but right now she didn’t care. If it annoyed him, he didn’t say anything._

_‘I’m only taking up your offer because the bags are_ _getting heavy,’ she said and ignored him the rest of the way home._

_That episode had cost him two weeks_ _with no sex, and it had been the worst time of his life because she was right, he couldn’t keep his hands off her._

“Tora?” Poppy started as she stared up at the ceiling. She laid on her back with his arm thrown over her waist, and she played with the muscles on his forearm. 

“Hmm…” 

“Does it really bother you that I’m too nice?” He studied her face, wide eyes slightly teary, cheeks rosy pink. She looked… worried? “Would it be better if I was like, I don’t know, Erdene maybe…” 

He scowled. Erdene was… Erdene. She did what she wanted and no man could stand in her way. She was blunt, outspoken—sure she was physically attractive, and perhaps in the past he would have tried to chase her, had he met her before meeting Poppy—but she wasn’t Poppy.  Erdene’s  life revolved around making herself happy and successful and he doubted he could’ve ever had any connection like the one he had with the little hamster. 

“No.” 

“She’s very beautiful.” 

“She’s alright.” 

“I’m just me... You’re... You could have anyone you wanted any time...” 

“Poppy...” he growled at her and she looked at him. “You’re rambling.” 

“And you didn’t answer my question...” 

He sighed and rolled over onto his back. “Quincey didn’t tell me that there would be an after party. It was full of  annoyin  ’ artsy hippies. I had to go hang out outside ‘cause some clingy cougars kept trying to grab my junk. He asked me to go drop him off at his father’s house and then got stuck there for another two hours. I had to deal with all these annoying motherfuckers trying to talk to me, and the usual crap... Then Quincey decided to open his big mouth and tell everyone that my birthday is coming up which prompted Balthuman senior to declare another party next week...” 

“Your birthday is coming up? I didn’t know your birthday was in November!... Actually, I didn’t even know when your birthday was...” 

“Because I don’t care for it.” 

“Hmm.” She didn’t ask him why, but it probably had to do with the fact that he was very young when he’d been taken under the Balthuman clan’s wings... “So then what’s going to happen?” 

“They’re expecting us for Sunday brunch...” 

“Ah... Wait a minute! What do you mean ‘us’?” Poppy nearly shrieked at Tora. 

“US as in me and you. Quincey also decided to open his big yap and tell daddy that _Tora has a girlfriend. We should invite her as well_ .” Tora sneered. He’d almost wanted to throttle the idiot, but obviously he couldn’t hit the Balthuman heir in front of the boss. He was reckless sometimes, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d made up some excuse about how Poppy wasn’t aware of the type of job he did, that he wasn’t ready to expose her to his type of life.  Balthuman’s  missus had sympathized and said no party, but yes Sunday brunch. 

“I... don’t know... I, what if they don’t like me? What are they like? What am I gonna do?” She was freaking out, freaking out inside, freaking out outside, freaking out heavily, intensely, and she was about to start hyperventilating. 

“Bobby...” 

“Oh, god, Tora, what am I supposed to talk about?” 

“Poppy...” 

“What if she doesn’t like me? What if—” 

“  Poppylan  .” 

She stopped and stared at him. He’d never called her by her full name before, having gone as far as making fun of her when she’d told him what it was during that time at Alice’s. 

“Stop it. It’ll be fine. I’m not excited, but I prefer it over you surrounded by other idiots. It’s just gonna be Quincey, his parents, and us two.” 

“I... Okay.” She laid back down and continued to hold on to Tora’s hand nervously. “Okay.” 

They laid in silence, each trying to figure out what was going to happen come Sunday. 

“Hey, Poppy?” 

“Yes?” 

“To answer your question, no, Poppy. It doesn’t bother me that you’re too nice.” He turned on his side facing away from her as he settled down for sleep. “If you acted any other way... You wouldn’t be Bobby.” 

Poppy laid there thinking about what he’d said. Tora wasn’t a man of many words, so when he spoke for more than three sentences in one go, she listened and took it to heart because he meant it. He didn’t like many people, he didn’t talk to many people, and he said he had no friends. 

Quincey … was Quincey. But he was also his responsibility. And Erdene, he was okay with her because she was Poppy’s (and now Quincey’s) friend. Alice was Alice, and he would probably choose Alice over anybody else. But... she pondered on his last words. _You wouldn’t be Bobby._

Without realizing it, he had told her more about how he felt for her than in the last year they’d been together. She felt her eyes tear up again as she stared at his broad back with its flowers and koi fish. 

She turned over and hugged him from behind, pressing her face into his back. 

“Thank you, Tora.” 

He simply grunted back a response. 

……… 


	7. Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breaking out the B word....  
> And finally! Some more hanky panky...
> 
> All characters belong to Lilydusk.
> 
> So, guys. If you haven't listened to Deftones, you should. Their DIAMOND EYES album has some good stuff (2010 memories and shenanigans)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “You’re the One that I Want”- Alex and Sierra version  
> “Good Woman”- Maren Morris  
> “Lovely”- Billie Eilish  
> “Ocean Eyes” – Billie Eilish
> 
> These for the sexy time:  
> “Beauty School” -Deftones  
> “976-Evil"- Deftones  
> “Entombed"- Deftones

Poppy was a ball of nerves by the time Friday rolled around. She kept snapping at people at work, and when Quincey had asked her what was her problem, she’d snapped at him as well that it was all his damn fault.

He’d scoffed and asked her why if he hadn’t even spoken to her since Monday night. He’d come to tell her he was leaving for lunch and she’d snapped at him instead.

“You cause all sorts of trouble in the background…” she muttered.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about Sunday brunch,  _ Quinceton _ .”

“Ahh. Tora told you about brunch. Good.”

“No. Not good, Quincey. What am I supposed to do? What am I suppose to say or talk about? Am I supposed to know what Tora does for a living or pretend that I’m oblivious to his activities? Let me tell you, I think I knew what he did was dangerous since the beginning, not exactly in what aspect, but I wasn’t dumb enough to think he sold flowers  to earn his daily bread.  ” She sat down on the nearest chair and threw her hands over her face.

“Okay, okay. Now you’re being dramatic, Poppy. That’s my job.” He dragged her hands off her face and made her look up at him.  “Don’t mess with your face, hygiene is important , you’re going to drag bacteria to your face , and you’re going to get wrinkles with the way you’re pulling . Now, is that all you’re worried about?”

“Why do I have to go with Tora?” she pouted and stared at her blond friend with wide-eyes.

“Don’t give me those puppy-dog eyes, you know they don’t work on me anymore.” They had at the beginning, but as he got to know her, he’d learned that underneath that innocent face laid a dangerous woman. Tora, the poor fool, had made the mistake of thinking that she was fragile, and been dragged easily into her net. He was in too deep to think otherwise, but Quincey knew his tall dark friend was an idiot who didn’t see what truly had happened. He was in love with her, just as she was with him, but neither one would admit it. Quincey could tell, but he wasn’t going to say anything and just preferred to watch from afar as the two idiots ran circles around each other and their emotions. “Now, Sunday brunch. It’s no big deal, Tora’s been sharing brunch with us since we were kids. It’s just my parents, Tora and I, and now you. Why, you ask—because my mother is excited to meet the woman who has snared the Tiger, and daddy-o is just nosy and likes to know what his men are up to. He does that with his closest men—not the Sunday brunch—but finding out who their love interests are. Worst case scenario would be that you were an undercover woman from an opposing clan… Then we would have ... issues.” The last words was said with such coldness that even Poppy shuddered because she’d never heard  Quincey used that tone before.

Poppy bit her trembling lip and looked away.

“Why now though?”

“Because you’re Tora’s girlfriend that’s why.”

“ I’m n…not?”

Quincey gave her a bored look before chuckling. He patted her on the head and started to walk away.

“Oh, you guys make my day. Of course you are, darlin’. Why would Tora stay around for over a year now?”

“Sex?” squeaked Poppy and that had Quincey cackling as he looked back at her. A couple of the other people in the office looked back at them. 

“Sex? Poppy, Tora has never stayed longer than he needs to for  _ sex _ … You’re lucky if you even catch his eye, much less time enough to hold a conversation longer than a sentence from him. The man is a brick wall surrounded by extra cement layers and an electrical metal fence, with a metaphorical alligator-filled trench around his heart. So, if he's not staying around long enough to treat you like his girlfriend because he cares for you, I am going to say that it's because you must have a golden pu—”

“Ha-ha!”  Jacob laughed from some where in the back, his laughter ringing through one of the opened doors.

“QUINCEY!” Poppy squeaked out before he could get the word out. “What is it with you guys and that word. Oh god. This is embarrassing.” She threw her hands back up to hide her burning face.

“Hands off your face, Poppy. Now, ta-ta. I have a meeting with destiny and I’m running late for it.” 

“Hot date?”

“No. Hairdresser. Now, stop moping and go to lunch and find yourself something sexy to wear for Sunday .” Quincey gave her a wink and turned back again to walk away. He gave a couple of on-lookers a glare. “What are you guys looking at? Come on, chop  chop , we got deadlines to meet. Unless, you’re on lunch, stop staring and get  clickity-clacketing .”

Poppy groaned and shut her office door because she couldn’t deal with the smirks and winks from her co-workers. 

“Tora, what exactly am I supposed to wear to brunch with the  Balthumans ?” 

Tora looked up at Poppy who was typing away on her laptop. He was lounging on her couch, clicking through titles on Netflix. He had never been  one for  watching  TV and he rarely had the time to relax but she had gotten him addicted. The little shit….Before Poppy, he’d taken a sabbatical which had lasted until she popped up in his life. He’d been working here and there on assignments, but mostly he’d been just Quincey’s bodyguard like it was supposed to be. 

In the beginning, when they’d started seeing each other more often, he had disappeared for about a month after he’d been sent to…  _ discharge _ someone. The feeling of being dirty and going back to touch Poppy with his blood soiled hands was overwhelming. Nowadays, it was just about roughing people up, warning them, and thankfully it hadn’t gotten to the point that he had to seriously hurt someone. 

“Whatever you want, just as long as you look neat.” 

“I don’t think I have anything that could be neat enough for brunch. I don’t think I’ve ever been out to brunch to meet someone new.” It amused him how concerned she was. Sure, he was slightly worried—mostly annoyed—that they had to do this, but he knew she would be fine. People tended to like Poppy. 

Alice had liked her from the moment she’d set her eyes on the younger woman. So much that when she’d realized that Tora was sleeping with Poppy, she’d warned him to not break her heart. When he had blushed and accidentally  slipped that she’d been a  _ virgin,  _ she had screamed at him and whacked him across the head so hard he’d seen stars. 

_ “Ow! What the hell, Alice!?” _

_ “You don’t do that to nice girls, Tora! I can’t  _ _ force _ _ you  _ _ to keep  _ _ it in your pants _ _ , _ _ but stay away from the virgins. You  _ **_ know _ ** _ that. Unless you have good intentions towards them, you don’t touch ‘ _ _ em _ _.” _

_ “I didn’t know! It wasn’t entirely my fault! I tried to tell her we shouldn’t do it!” _

_ “Was this before or after you’d already stuck your damn pecker in her?” Alice fumed. To anybody else, it would look comical that the tiny woman was beating up the 6’3” man, but it wasn’t funny to Tora who knew the true strength of Alice. _

_ “I didn’t know, Alice! Ya’ act as if I’m sleeping with every woman that crosses my path!” _

_ “She’s a good one, Tora. She’s sweet and she seems to  _ _ genuinely  _ _ care for ya.” _

_ “How would I know, I just met her!” _

_ “You’ve known her for like five months now, three of which you’ve been diddling her!” _

_ “Dammit, Alice! Stop hittin’ me, I get it, I get it!” _

__

_ ‘Hell hath no fury like an ornery old woman,’ Joe had told him once when they’d both escaped her wrath. Joe had been showing Tora how to shoot and they’d accidentally shot a hole through the roof of the restaurant. Needless, to say, Alice had been pissed off ever since. _

__

_ “Dangit, boy. You’ve been poking holes in things since you were fifteen. I thought you’d know better now.” _

_ “Alice, I swear. I didn’t know. I told her to leave and she made up her own mind. I didn’t hold a gun to her head and forced her to stay. I might be reckless, but I’m not that much of an asshole.” _

_ Alice sighed and pressed a finger to her forehead. _

_ “Just… Good intentions, Tora. Good intentions.” _

_ “I have good intentions.” _

_ “Not intentions to continue to sleep with her…” _

_ Tora blushed despite himself and looked away. Alice studied the young man before her, with his pout and furrowed eyebrows as he glared off into space. He rested his head on his hand as he leaned across the counter. Whenever he did that face, it reminded her of when he was just a child, playing at being tough and street smart, until he’d gotten his wish and he’d had to make that his daily living… _

_ “Do ya’ at least like her?” _

_ “I… of course, I like her. If I didn’t, I would’ve let them kill her that day. I saved her, and I wasn’t even sleepin’ with her then.” He felt his face heat up even more as he added, “And I’m not gonna stop sleepin’ with her.” _

_ “I can’t force ya’ not to. Just… be safe? I’m too young to become a grandma.” _

_ “Alice, you’re a relic,” Tora said with a Cheshire cat grin, “But you’re gonna last forever ‘cause evil never dies.” _

_ That earned him another whack across the head from her hand fan.  _

_ “Get outta here you rake.” _

_ He booked it out of there laughing his ass _ _ off _ _ as he went. _

__

“Tora?” 

He glanced up at Poppy who had closed her laptop and now stared at him curiously.

“Yeah?”

“What are you thinking?” she smiled, looking happily bemused.

“Come ‘ere.”

She walked over to him, taking his outstretched hand. He pulled her close to stand between his thighs, and dropped his hands to her upper thighs as he stared up at her face.

“What?”

“Do you know what Alice asked me when she found out I was sleepin’ with you?”

Poppy blushed but shook her head. “No.”

“She asked what my intentions were about you.” Poppy grinned at that because she’d been asked the same thing in regards to Tora. She raised her hands to his caress his jaw and watched him continue to study her face.

“What did you tell her?”

“That I had good intentions.”

“Did you now?” Poppy’s stomach fluttered. She wasn’t sure where he was going with that, but she was sure that she wasn’t the only one confused.

“Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“That if my intentions were to keep sleepin’ with ya, they weren’t good intentions.” He smirked at that and the pretty blush that filled Poppy’s cheeks. She continued sliding her hands on his jaw and neckline. “I told her that I wasn’t going to  stop doin' it though .”

“Really?” She giggled because she could imagine that kind of answer he must’ve gotten from the older woman. “So, why bring this up now?”

Tora huffed. He looked away for a moment, and then to Poppy’s surprise, he blushed. With a deep sigh, he looked at her again, except his expression was somber.

“I… we’re pretty much together all the time…” he started slowly and she nodded at him. “We’ve been sleeping together for over a year now… I’m not out there fuckin’ anyone else, by the way…”

She grinned. “Okay.”

“Dammit… We pretty much live together. I… ah.” He frowned. He’d taken down men who were double the size in weight and height than Poppy, but he felt more nervous now than ever before. “What I’m trying to say is… Argh. I’m your  _ boyfriend _ , Bobby. You can’t take that back, and you’re gonna have to deal with it,” he mumbled the last part in a rush.

Poppy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but she kept her cool because she knew how hard it was for him to speak about these things. Was she happy? Of course! She had just been talking to Quincey about that in the morning, and here was Tora clarifying his intentions. The little shoulder angel and devil were jumping around in a circle, holding hands cheering for what had just happened.

“Alright.”

“And if you say no, sucks for you, because too late now. Alice will kick my ass for devirginizing you and you for—”

“Tora.” She cradled his head between her hands and held him so that he looked at her. His eyes were slightly wild, that golden color fiery and confused as he looked at her. “I said alright.” 

“I…Hmm.” He dropped his head to her neck and just breathed her in. His heart was pounding with all the anxiety of telling her that. He wasn’t the most romantic, but Poppy didn’t seem to mind it. She took everything he did in stride. She was too good for him…

Poppy held him, running her fingers through his hair. She knew he liked that, found it relaxing to feel her finger threaded in his hair and caressing his scalp. She lifted his face to hers and kissed him, starting from his forehead, to his cheek. Kissed his jaw, over his straight nose, and finally softly over his lips.

He gave a shuddering breath and she couldn’t tell if it was in excitement or relief. Maybe both? The hands on her thighs tightened and pulled her closer to him as she deepened the kiss, tongue shyly seeking his.

Usually, it was Tora who initiated anything, but she felt it was time to do it since he’d already been brave enough to… give their  _ relationship  _ a name, a title, a reason to continue as they were.  The truth was that she’d come into their relationship not knowing what was going to happen. The first time they’d been together, she’d told herself that she needed to keep emotions out of actions otherwise she would definitely end up with a broken heart. He was a very private person, not really into PDA and it had taken a while for him to actually want to hold her hand in public. He had never come out and told her how he felt about her but the small things he did for her—waking up early to drive her to work, taking her out to lunch some days, letting her mess with his hair even though he hated people touching his head at all—and now this. Surely Alice’s words had touched something inside him...

“Come with me,” she told him as she pulled back and started walking towards the bedroom. He took her outstretched hand and followed behind her.

Her room had been changed to accommodate the new roommate. Plush toys had been set aside as decorative items on the shelves—not all, but the most loved ones—and a bigger bed was bought to fit two people.

_ … _ _ I like you when _ _ ,  _ _ When you take off your face _ _ … _

Poppy crawled onto the bed, resting on her knees as she stared at him. She reached out and touched her hand to his waist, while he looked down at her through his dark lashes. If there was something she had learned about herself was that she absolutely could not get enough of Tora. He was a beautiful man who turned heads—women and men alike—whenever they went anywhere , and yet… here he was, of his own choice, with her.

_ …I watch you taste it _ _ ,  _ _ I see your face _ _ ,  _ _ And I know I'm alive _ __ _ … _

She didn’t understand what it was he saw in her,  with all her boring old brown hair and wide eyes… if she could only have pretty eyes like Erdene or Quincey . She would never get tired of staring into his golden eyes, much like a cat’s, something that had confused and intrigued her when he’d stared straight at her at the train station that first day…

_ …You're shooting stars _ _ ,  _ _ From the barrel of your eyes _ _ …  _ _ It drives me crazy _ _ … J _ _ ust drives me wild _ _ … _

Poppy  slid her hands upward, over the ridges of his abs to his chest and he pulled his shirt over his head. He hadn’t made any move  to take over and she was glad for that, she wasn’t sure what the steps to seducing anyone where, but she knew her end goal:  getting him in her and having a good night.

There was music in the background, probably from earlier when he’d been  trying to find something interesting to listen to. Even their music tastes were different… and whatever was playing right now was an example of that. The singer’s voice wasn’t the prettiest, the most dulcet of tones, and yet… it was strangely haunting and sexy.

She dropped her hands to his belt and he watched her undo it, the clinking of metal sounding over their harsh breathing. She could see he was already hard, already ready—he was always ready for her—and it humbled her slightly that he felt that way about her. She didn’t know exactly how he felt emotionally, but physically… she understood him perfectly well. People had told her that it wasn’t right to base a relationship on sex, but if sex was the way they spoke to each other then so be it.

“Wait,” Poppy looked up at him, “I wanna see you … as well…”

She nodded, moving backwards so she sat in the middle of the  giant bed and dragged her dress over her head, letting it fall off to the side.  His eyes had never left her and she heard the low groan that he’d given when she revealed that she was in fact, not wearing a bra.

There was just something about the way he looked at her, he didn’t have to touch her for her body to burn… She breathed in shakily, running her hands over her stomach, coming to rest on her breasts, and  feeling  emboldened ,  gave her breasts a squeeze, closing her eyes with a sigh because she knew, just knew he was watching her and enjoying it.

She didn’t know when the previous song had ended, but a new one was already playing, probably by the same band because the voice sounded the same and it kept her focused on Tora and his reaction.

_ So I gaze in your eyes _ _ … _ _ And I wonder can you take me up… _

She opened her eyes when she heard rustling of clothing and saw Tora was kicking off his pants.  The look on his face was darker, his eyes a molten color, sparking alive with the fire that she’d started .

He was breathing hard, mouth half opened, and he gritted his  teeth when she  dragged her lace panties down her hips so she was left naked before him.

_ Your hands that I'm under _ _ … _ _ Come wake _ _ ,  _ _ So I gaze in your eyes _ _ …  _ _ And I wonder can you take me up _ _ …  _

She leaned back and rested on her elbows as she continued to enjoy his strip show. If somebody had asked what she thought about body tattoos two years ago, she would’ve said she wouldn’t date that man… but now … Now, she loved to get lost in the  colors of them.

Through her haze,  she wondered what this m usic was because, shit, it was good. It was weirdly turning her on. 

“Fuck…” he hissed when Poppy  opened her legs  slightly and he was rewarded with a view of heaven… She kept a hand on her breast as she dropped her other between her legs. She was hurting, a good kind of  hurt, and she gasped when she felt the  zap that rushed through her when her fingers touched that little hidden bundle.

She couldn’t hold in the moan that bubbled from within her…. From her touch and from seeing the way that Tora had now grasped himself, pulling his hand down slowly as he watched her, pulling upwards to the head… 

He was beautiful…

_ From the day you arrived _ _ ,  _ _ I've remained on your side… _ _ I _ _ n chains, entombed… _

_ Placed inside, safe and sound _ _ … _ _ Shapes and colors are all I see _ .

Tora watched her  close her eyes as she came just from her hand alone and he couldn’t stand it anymore. He climbed into bed, crawling over her. 

_ Placed inside, safe inside _ _ … _ _ Shades of colors are all I see _ _ …  _ _ Safe inside _ _. _ _.. shades of colors are all I see.. _

Tora  nudged her legs open, rested his body over hers, and pushed home.  She moaned loudly, hands going to his sides. 

“Yes ,yes, yes…! Oh, god…”

He  pushed hard, in the back of his mind wondering if he was being too rough…  She whimpered when he hit hard inside and she gasped again and again.

“Oh, Tora!”

She was starting to writhe beneath him, her hands scraping down his back as she  tried to push up again him. His hands found her breasts, taking one into each of his hands —m assaging them, squeezing , pinching—as he moved against her.

Soon, he felt her  walls clenching, and he groaned feeling that familiar electric zap down his spine,  down his legs, to focus on his groin.

He sped up his movements, not caring anymore that she was a good  sixty or so pounds lighter than him.  His mouth found hers,  taking it hotly, pressing a wet kiss as he tangled his tongue with hers.  The sounds of skin slapping together  made him crazy.

Keeping his mouth fused on hers, he took her arms and  dragged them to the bed on either side of her head. 

“Tora, Tora, Tora…!” she cried out again and again, feeling that burning making itself  its way out. She didn’t know why , but she opened her eyes and found his fiery ones staring right back at her.

“Look at me,” he said and dropped his  mouth to give her a hard kiss, leaving her more breathless than she already was, when he lifted his head up again. “You’re so fuckin' beautiful it hurts.”

She whimpered, mouth opened as she gasped for breath.

“ So tight, so warm…”

“Tora…”

“Fuck good intentions!” He  gave her a few good hard  thrusts  that had her breasts bouncing, rubbing against his chest and her teeth rattling. “Fuck it.  Ya were a fuckin' virgin, Poppy. Why the hell would ya let me fuck ya…?”

“I didn’t want anyone else!” she cried out as she stared wide-eyed at the crazed look on his. 

“No one… A fuckin' virgin!” he groaned as he  gave her another wet kiss, as he slammed into her a couple more times. He wasn’t going to last much longer…

“Just you.  Only you.” She gasped against his lips.

“Fuckin'… hell…” 

Poppy screamed, coming down so hard she felt her body spasm , leaving her writhing and gasping beneath him. He couldn’t hold it much longer…

…and  slamming into her a few more times, he came with one last push, roaring her name and feeling as if his soul was leaving his body…

“ All mine…” he murmured and Poppy couldn’t help but cry as it hit her how much he meant with those two words.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry, I was being too rough…”

“I’m not complaining…”

“You shouldn’t let me do that if I’m being rough.”

“Tora…”

“Hmm.”

“You can’t take back what you said earlier.”

“About?”

“Boyfriend.”

“Hmm.”

“Tora, doesn’t mean you have to fall in love with me, you know.”

“ You wish.”

“I think my… pussy sucked your brain out.”

“Woman. Ya talk too much.”

“Eek! TORA.”

“Shut up and give me that mouth.”

“Mmm…”


	8. What Are the Odds?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What are the odds of finding your soulmate, your love at first sight, your happily ever after????
> 
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO MISS LILYDUSK!! Check her out on Webtoon, "Midnight Poppy Land."  
> ..............................................

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I Fade Into You"- Mazzy Star  
> "She's Casual"- The Hunna  
> "Free Animal"- Foreign Air  
> "Something About Us"- Daft Punk
> 
> .....smexy time.....  
> "Soul Meets Body" - Death Cab for Cutie  
> "Slow Hands"- Interpol  
> "Hands Down"- Dashboard Confessionals  
> (acoustic Version)  
> "Sea of Love"- Cat Power

*** Please, bear with me, I'm sort of making up names here, Idk what her parent's names are***

**...........**

**He** couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t been part of the Balthuman clan. 

He had been very young when he had met Quincey in school, one of the more prestigious schools in the city. The tiny blond boy of about five sat in a corner crying because he had been bullied and the bigger boys had taken his Pokémon lunch box. 

_Tora had seen it all from the top of the slides where he had been playing. He wasn’t any taller or bigger than the blond boy crying near the sand box, but his anger had been bigger. He’d slid down, and marched straight to the three boys who had taken away the lunch box, punching one after the other, and smacking the lunch box against their faces to make sure they felt what pain the other kid felt at being teased._

_They’d ran off, lips bleeding and crying to tell their teacher._

_The blond kid stared open mouth as the black-haired kid who’d beaten up his bullies marched over to him. He wasn’t sure whether to be scared or to thank him. His mama always told him to be nice and thank someone when they do something for you... and the kid had brought him back his lunch box._

_But he’d also beat up the other three kids by himself, so he wasn’t really sure what to do._

_“Here,” the kid huffed out as he handed him the lunch box. “I think they ate your sandwich, but your snacks are still in there. That’s more important.”_

_“T-thank you,” squeaked the blond kid as he took in the other boy. “Your eyes are weird.”_

_“Yeah, well my mama says that my eyes are rare. Yours are green. Other people have green eyes. My mama says my eyes are special.”_

_“Nuh uh! Mama says my eyes are Aqua- Marie!” the little blond boy said defensively as he stood up._

_“Okay.” The other kid said with a shrug as he turned to walk away._

_“Wait! Wait! What’s your name?”_

_Dark eyebrows furrowed as they looked the little kid. “Tora.”_

_“I’m Quinceton!”_

_“That’s a weird name.”_

_“No, it’s not! My mama says—”_

_“Ima call you Quincey ‘cause you’re tiny.”_

_Quincey pouted but agreed, only because he rather liked Quincey better than **Quinceton** , and the latter was too hard and long to spell anyways._

_It didn’t take too long to realize that Tora’s mother knew Quincey’s family, the Balthumans, who lived in the biggest, nicest house of the town. Tora’s dad, apparently, worked for them and Tora had never known this until they’d so happened to go over for brunch one day._

_Quincey had been excited to see that his defender from school was able to spend time at his house now and even though it bugged the older kid, he went along and became friends with him._

_Tora found it strange that a lot of the men that hung around at the Balthuman’s seemed to know his mother, and he couldn’t place why it made him feel weird..._

_Then one day, everything changed. His father apparently had a "work accident". His mother was saddened and took to drinking. Tora didn’t understand why he couldn’t go to school as often as he used to. One day, when he went to wake up his mother so that she could go drop him off, she didn’t wake up. He called Quincey’s mother and asked her if she could please give him a ride since his mother wasn’t waking up._

_“I think she’s just too drunk,” nine-year-old Tora explained when he greeted Mrs. Balthuman at the front door. She took in the state of the house and humphed. She didn’t think that the boy noticed the way he was living but it didn’t seem an appropriate place for a bright and gifted boy like himself to be in. “Here’s her room,” he said as he pointed towards his mother’s bedroom. “Let me go get my backpack.”_

_The tall woman pushed the door open, angry and ready to tell the other woman off. She was raised for grace and poise but being demure and a pushover didn’t work when she was married to the Balthuman head. She knew how to push back just as he did._

_“Lani?” She called out as she got closer to the sheet covered lump in the middle of the bed. “Lani, I can’t believe you let your son see you this way. Don’t you have any sha—oh shit.”_

_Lani was not breathing and more than likely hadn’t been for a while now..._

_Slipping out of the room, the tall blonde met Tora at the front door. “Come on, sweetheart. Give me a second to talk to your mother. Go wait with Quincey in the car, okay?”_

_“Yes, ma’am.”_

_She dialed her husband’s number as she saw her son greet Tora excitedly._

_“Balthuman.”_

_“She’s dead.”_

_“Who?”_

_“Lani.”_

_“Oh.”_

_“What do you want me to do about Tora?”_

_“What do you suppose we do?”_

_Claire looked across the lawn to Tora and Quincey as they laughed together about something Tora showed him on his Game Boy._

_“We can take him in.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Quincey loves Tora. They’re friends. Tora might need a friend his age...” She didn’t know why she said it, but it slipped out without thinking. “And who knows, you may need Tora in the future.”_

_“Hmm. I suppose. Alright, bring the child.”_

_“Thanks, love.”_

_“And Claire?”_

_“Yes, love?”_

_“When the time comes, I don’t want your emotions in the way of my training.”_

_“Hmm.”_

_“You hear?”_

_Sigh. “Yes, dear.”_

…................ 

**_“_ I** spoke to my dad on Tuesday,” Poppy said stretched. 

Tora simply turned to lay on his side and rested his head on his hand as he stared at her. He watched the way her caramel color hair fell against her skin when she moved, and the way her skin had a healthy pink glow—so lively, so happy. 

“What did he want?” 

“He wanted me to come home for Thanksgiving. He was willing to buy my ticket back, but I told him I wasn’t sure I could make it this year.” Poppy rolled over and laid on her stomach, resting her head on her arms and smiled back at Tora. “Now that I know your birthday is coming up, I want to spend it with you.” 

“I don’t celebrate my birthday.” 

“Hmm. We don’t have to celebrate. We can just spend all day in bed if you want to...” she winked at him and gave him a smile that had him raising his eyebrow. 

“Oh. I see.” He dropped his hand to her lower back, caressing the skin there, trailing his fingers upwards making her sigh contently. “Well, well, well. Who would’ve thought the little hamster is actually a horny little hamster,” he teased, giving her one of his crooked half smiles. 

“Shut up,” she said and sunk her face against her pillow. She mumbled something against it and he saw her ears turning red. 

“What? Speak up, I can’t hear you, hamster.” 

“I said, it’s all your fault!” Finally lifting her head to look at him, she stuck her tongue out. “It’s all your fault I’m becoming that way. If you would just keep your hands to your—” 

“Bobby, you wouldn’t want me to keep my hands to myself. Stop lyin'.” Tora, who had been dragging his hand down her back and slid his hand under the covers gave her bottom a slap. She gasped and flushed an even darker pink. 

“Tora!” 

“Bobby!” 

She grinned at him before snuggling closer to him. He knew what she meant to do and stretched his arm out for her to lay on. For some reason, she really liked laying cuddled next to him after sex. He had never been one for such a thing, but then again, those were different times. He would never admit it to her, but he’d grown fond of her cuddling up to him. He never did it out of his own accord but be let her do what she wanted. 

She let her hand drop to his stomach as she continued their conversation. 

“Anyways, he wanted me to come home, and I said I couldn’t. He asked me why, I said plans and he asked me if it was because of a guy. I didn’t want to tell him yes, and I didn’t explain it to him, but he came out saying that he would come to _me_ , if I didn’t go to him. He’s been a little clingy since mom passed away. It’s been a while, but he’s overprotective. I didn’t know what to tell him, especially since I wasn’t sure of what to call what we have going on.” 

Tora could tell that she was happy with his boyfriend comment… He, however, was a nervous wreck. What exactly did a boyfriend do? He’d never been a boyfriend before, but he’d also never had a reason to try to be one to anyone. Now he had a reason—Poppy. 

“I’m not sure what to tell my dad. I feel bad for leaving him hanging, but I’m sure he’ll just pop up here anyways. I’ll just have some type of dinner ready.” 

“Are ya gonna make pancakes for Thanksgiving?” 

“Better than nothing. Don’t underestimate my cooking abilities, mister!” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

“I still haven’t figured out what to wear tomo—” 

_Ding dong._

Tora and Poppy both stopped and turned their heads in the direction of the doorway. It was 8 o'clock Saturday morning, who in their right mind would be out and about? Poppy knew for a fact that Erdene didn’t get out of bed until about noon, and that was only if she really had to. 

“I’ll get it,” Tora said in a bored tone. “It’s probably those tiny terrors tryin’ to sell me cookies again.” Poppy grinned. He was referring to the Girl Scouts that had somehow managed to weasel $100 worth of cookies out of him. He’d ended up taking a bunch of boxes and given the men cookies for days. Poppy took a couple more boxes to the office to hand out. He was a softy. A scary, giant, a bear…. A Panda bear. 

He dragged on some sweatpants and headed out barefoot to see who it was. 

Seeing as how no one ever visited them—and if they did, they tried to call ahead because of Tora— she didn’t make much of it and stayed in bed. 

Soon, she heard feet coming heading back and she thought it was Tora… 

“Hey, what do you want to eat?” She asked as she sat up, blanket falling to her waist leaving her top half naked. 

“Well, it looks like Tora has already made a meal out of _you,_ but I’ll take a coffee.” 

Poppy snapped her gaze to the door and screamed. 

**_“For_** the last time, calm down woman!” 

“How do you want me to calm down, Quincey!? You just saw me naked!!” Poppy huffed. She was glaring at him from behind Tora who kept an arm out to prevent her from attacking the blond. Quincey probably didn’t see the danger encased in his tiny... _girlfriend_ , but Tora knew better. 

Poppy had dragged on one of Tora t-shirts which was big enough to fall down to her thighs. She crossed her arms angrily at Quincey who didn’t really seem bothered at all. 

“Boobs, Poppy. It was only your boobs...Not bad, I must admit,” Poppy gaped in surprise, disbelief. “Good choice, my man,” he told Tora with a wink, who shrugged lazily and said ‘thanks'. “But I’m not here for your breasts. I brought you something.” 

Poppy finally noticed the large bag at his feet from a very obviously expensive store since it was all shiny and fancy looking... 

“For me?” 

“Yes, for you. I figured you were too stressed and easily sidetracked that you’d forgotten to go find something nice for tomorrow, so during my appointment I went out and got you something.” 

Poppy still didn’t seem too convinced. “You got me something... Why?” 

Quincey snorted and gave her a wave of his hand. “Because this is the first time Tora dearest is bringing a girlfriend home and my mother is excited. Also, because if it were up to you, you’d probably go in leggings and a baggy t-shirt. There’s something in there for Tora as well.” 

Tora grunted, but took the bag from Quincey. “Thanks. I don’t see what the big deal is though...” 

“Well, we all thought you swung for the other team. Father thought you and I had a thing, and mother was ready to declare a wedding date for us.” It was Tora’s turn to stare in disbelief. “But then, I told them, you weren’t my type, and that you were into mousy little nerdy editors, and they stared at me the same way you both are right now. _However,_ mother pointed out that you were into girls and mousy little nerdy girls sounded about right up your alley since apparently there was a mousy girl in your life when we were kids. I don’t remember it too well, so whatever.” 

Tora blushed. “That sounds ridiculous, but thanks either way. If it’s something resembling an Italian gigolo like what you’re wearing now I'm giving it back,” he warned Quincey who rolled his eyes at him. Poppy giggled and took the bag. She leaned over to open the box and Tora chuckled. 

“Sweetheart, your conscience is showing...” 

Poppy looked at him in confusion. “My what? Conscience?” 

“He means your booty, my dear confused love.” Quincey pointed out with a grin. Poppy stood up straight, holding the edges of the t-shirt down around her thighs. She grabbed the bags and walked back to the room. Tora’s eyes lingered on her swinging bottom as she walked away, and Quincey snapped his fingers to get his attention. “Earth to Tora.” 

“What?” 

“Can you get your pervy mind off the gutter for a moment?” 

“What.” 

“You know dad is going to ask her all sorts of questions to see what kind of person she is, right?” 

“That sounds like a you problem. You caused all of this.” Tora finally turned his eyes to his friend. “We were perfectly content living down low. She’s been an utter wreck all week.” 

“I know, I've been at the receiving end of her snappy comments all week.” Quincey studied his dark brooding friend sitting across from him on the other couch. “Are you ever going to tell her how you feel?” 

“Meaning?” 

“You’re in love with her.” 

“How would _you_ know? Besides, our...relationship is different. We didn’t start off the usual route that most couples do.” Tora pointed and Quincey shook his head at him. 

“You’re an idiot sometimes. _She’s_ in love with you.” 

“How would you know?” 

“Any woman with the same look on her face she had when I walked into the room this morning is in love. I mean, besides the obvious tumbling you must’ve given her this morning before I got here. A normal girl would’ve seen the first sign of danger and run away. Even with your ornery, stubborn, and kind of jack-assy self, she’s still stayed.” 

“Hmm.” 

“Say, something crazy just came to my mind.” Tora looked at him with a disgusted look on his face. “Don’t be making that face at me. Anyways, imagine that Poppy was that girl that you used to have a crush on when you were little.” 

“Nah. First of all, I didn’t have a crush on anyone when I was little. That little girl was about five when I was already ten, and that’s weird. Her name was not Poppy though, that’s for sure.” 

“Aww, you remember all that from almost twenty years ago?” 

“Don’t make me punch you. My knuckles are itching for another feel of your scalp,” Tora replied with a bored look on his face. Quincey paled slightly, remembering the last time in the parking lot when he’d gotten _harassed_ by this meathead. The jerk had left him with half a concussion and a face full of Sharpie. He had to skip his date that night... 

“Argh. Fine. You’re not fun, I don’t know why Poppy is so interested in you.” Quincey shook his head. 

“My dick.” 

“You’re disgusting.” 

“Hey, guys—look.” 

Both men turned to the doorway where Poppy stood in what Tora guess was a dress Quincey had just brought her. 

She had on a burgundy lace dress that fell a couple inches above her knees. She’d paired that with a black leather jacket and very sheer black pantyhose. Her tiny feet were covered in the highest pair of heeled ankle booties Tora had ever seen her in. 

All in all, it was still his Poppy, but with a little edge, which he was fine with since he’d been afraid that Quincey had bought her some skimpy dress that would make her butt or boobs hang out. But this was okay, she looked clean, put together, and still easy-going. _Classy not trashy_ , Quincey had told Tora once. The heels already had him imagining ways they could both enjoy them... he wondered if she had ever taken any yoga...? Could she touch her toes? 

“Well, it looks exactly like how I had imagined it would look!” Quincey said excitedly as he stood to go walk around her. “You should wear your hair down with this. Or half up, half down like Tora does. Are you wearing make-up tomorrow? Something dark and smoky would be nice.” 

“I was thinking light... You think dark would be fine? I have to ask Erdene to give me some tips...” 

“Ooh, honey, some dark red lipstick would do just the trick. I don’t think I've ever seen you with red lipstick.” 

“I don’t really wear a lot of make-up...” 

“What do you think Tora, honey? Red lipstick, right?” Quincey asked Tora who was still staring at them with an interested gleam on his eyes. He wasn’t actually paying attention to the jabber about her clothing, but red lipstick caught his attention. He hadn’t seen her wear any lipstick, much less that color, in the last year or so since they’d been together and he couldn’t help but imagine a specific situation where he would really enjoy her pouty red lips. 

“Tora?” 

His eyes snapped back to Poppy’s face who had a mischievous gleam in her eyes. 

“It’s fine. That would be fine,” he muttered and tried to clear his throat. He didn’t blush because all of his blood had traveled south, but Poppy dropped her head with a smirk, while Quincey caught what had happened and dropped his hands from Poppy’s hair. 

“You two are disgusting and horrible. Doin’ it like bunnies, I’m sure, and making me, who is very single and with no one to mingle, feel very left out. Bah.” 

Tora and Poppy watched Quincey cross to the couch and grab his bag, flinging it across his back. With a dramatic sigh and a wave at them, he moved to the door. 

“Clearly, I’m not needed at the moment, so I'm leaving.” He gave Poppy a look. “You! Don’t get that dress dirty. That is what you’re wearing to brunch tomorrow. Pick me up at ten tomorrow, Tora. Ta-ta!” and shut the door behind him. Poppy giggled at their dramatic friend, stopping when she realized Tora had a dark and dangerous look on his eyes... 

“Oh...” 

“Oh, indeed.” 

Quincey was halfway down the building when he realized he had left his phone upstairs on the coffee table. He punched the elevator buttons to head back up, exiting as soon as it opened. Without thinking, he opened the front door of the apartment (mistake 1—not realizing it wasn’t locked) and was met with the sight of his friends half naked on the couch. 

“QUINCEY!” Tora roared, giving him a death glare and the blond shut the door immediately. 

“THAT’S FINE! I’LL JUST GET MY PHONE LATER! OR TOMORROW!” Quincey rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. “Cheese sticks on a cracker, I’m going to need therapy after that... and to burn these clothes,” he muttered to himself with a sigh because he really liked the pants he was wearing, except now he didn’t know how much of Tora he wearing on him after sitting on that couch... 

... ** _Sunday morning....._**

**_Poppy_** barely slept Saturday night. She tossed and turned, kept sighing and muttering to herself to the point that Tora threatened to kick her out of bed. 

In the end, he’d been the one to grab his blanket and gone to sleep in the couch. 

At around four a.m., he’d wandered back into the room... AFTER he’d made sure that she was finally asleep. It was difficult learning to sleep with other people in the same bed and sometimes he woke up with Poppy kicking him in the ribs or pushing him off. She was frowning in her sleep and he sighed. Sunday was going to be pretty darn stressful. 

They woke up and got out of bed around eight, Poppy wanting to give herself time to work on her makeup. Putting on the outfit was easy, since Quincey had pretty much picked it out for her but making up her face was a whole other thing. 

It was easy for Tora since all he was wearing was pressed and fitted dress pants and a long sleeve button up that accentuated his coloring. He had already rolled up the sleeves to his forearm as he waited for Poppy to finish getting ready. Nobody, not even Quincey, could stop him from wearing his black boots. The man was a damn rebel. Ha. 

Poppy stared at herself in the mirror. Not bad for a first time trying on a full face of make-up. She sent Erdene a selfie which she immediately responded back with thumbs up emojis and kissy faces. Okay. So, it was good. Quincey had come back yesterday in the afternoon to drop off about four pairs of lipstick in several shades of red and told her to try them on and see what matched best. 

Now, with her lips ready, she gave her hair a last look and got her bag and shoes. If Sunday brunch, or Balthuman senior, didn’t kill her, she was sure the shoes would when she twisted an ankle and tipped over. Where was her father with the bicycle helmet when she needed it? 

“Well, I’m ready.” 

Tora who was busy playing on the game console, grunted at her in response without looking at her. 

“Could you give me a hand with the shoes? I don’t think I can bend over in this dress.” 

Tora finally glanced over at her, doing a double take, because the woman staring back at him did not resemble his innocent, wide-eyed Poppylan. He dropped his controller onto the couch and moved over to where she had taken a seat on the other couch. 

“Is it that bad?” she asked nervously, because his face had gotten serious. He sat next to her and tapped her on her leg so that she lifted her foot up to his thigh. 

“Yes. No.” 

“Which is it?” 

He slipped her heel on, fingers lingering on her ankle then sliding it upwards to her calf. Poppy stared wide-eyed through softly smoky eyes. She didn’t know whether his silence was good or bad. He put on her other shoe and helped her to her feet. With the added height from her heels, she was now a good 5’4” or 5’5”, the height bringing her mouth closer to his than normal. 

“You don’t look like Poppy.” 

Poppy’s face fell for a second and she wondered whether she should go back and change. 

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” he started as he lifted her chin up with his thumb. “I…it doesn’t matter what you wear. You’re still my Bobby. Make up… is for you to present yourself to the world, but I know the real you underneath. Because people might see you as dangerous and wild with this on, but I know that it’s actually not true … Wide-eyed, innocent looking Poppy is the one they should fear, I should know. You’re a dangerous woman, Poppy.” 

Poppy lifted her hands up to his waist as she held on to him. “Really? _Your_ Bobby?” 

He blushed slightly. “Yes, Bobby.” 

“Thank you,” she murmured and hugged him, resting her head against his chest. She could hear his heart racing and that’s how she knew that he was telling the truth. He was nervous. 

She felt his hands sliding down to the swell of her bottom, and she glanced up. 

“Tora… we have to go. Quincey’s waiting.” 

“Quincey can suck it.” 

“No. Come on, we have to meet him. The quicker we get this over with, the better.” 

With her bag over her shoulder and Tora’s hand in hers, she walked out of the apartment feeling like a million bucks and on top of the world. 

. 

**She** did not feel like being on top of the world anymore. 

From the moment they had arrived to the Balthuman residence, she’d known she was out of her element. The place was huge! They had a freaking round about driveway and the freaking pond in the middle of the circle. The hell. 

She stared nervously at the men in black suits that met them at the gate, to verify who was driving up to the entrance. She felt like she was in a Princess Diaries movie mixed with Men in Black. That had her laughing to herself nervously and earned her a look from Tora and Quincey...She was almost expecting a voice from a speaker somewhere coming on and screaming at her to GET OFF THE LAWN!... 

“Young Master” Quincey had these people eating out of his hand... or not, but if they said anything, she was sure there would be trouble. He was the heir to the Balthuman clan or family –uh business— whatever you wanted to call it and the men had to respect the name... 

Except for Tora. He apparently did whatever the hell he wanted to do, and he was the only one who didn’t seem to care what Quincey thought about him. Or anyone else. 

“Tora! You’re back!” 

“Hey, Aniki! Good to see ya’! Where ya’ been?” 

“Is that Master Quincey’s girlfriend?” She’d attached herself to Tora’s side after that comment had been made and Tora had thrown his arm around her. He shot the questioning men a look and they scampered off. 

Now she was sure The Godfather was real, and she had just walked into his house... 

“Ah! Honey, you’re home!” 

“Mother!” 

Poppy stared as Quincey walked over to a beautiful tall blonde woman and kissed her cheeks. She clung to her son, commenting on his haircut. She caught side of Tora and Poppy and made her way over. 

“Tora, dear, welcome back.” 

“Good morning, Mrs. Balthuman.” Tora said with a slight bow. She waved him off and leaned up to kiss both his cheeks, ruffling his hair a little. He bristled, making a face at her that had her laughing. 

“Oh, Tora! Still with the hair thing?” 

“You know I hate it,” he mumbled and pulled Poppy forward. “Mrs. Balthuman, this is Poppy, my g-girlfriend.” 

Poppy bowed at the waist slightly. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. My name’s Poppylan.” 

“Dear, it’s alright. No need for so many formalities. Stand up straight, let me take a look at you.” Poppy straightened and stared at the older woman before her. She’d planted a kiss on both of her cheeks as well, grabbed a hold of her hands in hers and taken a step back. “Wow. You remind me of someone. I can’t really place who... But no wonder my boy was smitten! Look at you! So neat, so clean, so beautiful. What do you do for a living, Poppy dear?” 

“Ah, I’m an editor, ma’am. I work at your son’s company. Well, worked under someone else before he took over our company.” 

“Ah, you’re _the_ Poppy! Girl with brains, I like it! No wonder Tora fell for you. He likes the book-types, smart girls.” Mrs. Balthuman leaned over and nudged her on the side with a wink. “And the rest of you if you know what I mean.” 

Tora scowled. “I do not like book types...” 

“You do, my man, and the fact that she came with the added curves is like a godsend to you.” Quincey snorted back as he patted Tora’s shoulder. “Calm down. It’s just a comment.” 

“Come on, come on. Let’s head out back to the patio, they’re going to serve soon...” 

Poppy stared at the food around the large round table. According to Mrs. Balthuman, she’d chosen to make it this way so that everyone could look at everyone else. Apparently, Quincey and Tora had a knack for making each other mad and having to look at each other made them work it out each time. Poppy had to wonder how long and how often Tora had done this whole Sunday brunch thing because the older woman made it seem like it was a normal family thing, but... she’d also seen how close Tora was with Alice and she lived in another whole other spectrum of the city, so she knew that he’d have to be spending a lot of time with her to be so emotionally close with the tiny woman. 

Tora sat sprawled on the patio chairs as if this wasn’t important, and in her opinion, he looked rather bored. The beautiful blonde either didn’t care what he was feeling or had already grown immune to Tora’s charming personality, probably the latter. 

“Good morning everyone.” 

Mrs. Balthuman, Claire, turned in the direction of the voice and Poppy watched as Tora and Quincey got up to their feet, each giving the newcomer a brief bow. Following suit, Poppy got to her feet and waited to be noticed. 

“Good morning, dear.” 

“Good morning, Father.” 

“Mornin’...” Tora replied lazily, and Poppy wanted to smack him across the arm because the older blond man exuded a type of presence that had her wanting to run for the hills. And all that her oaf of a boyfriend said was ‘morning’. Alright. 

“Ah, is this the famous Poppy? The woman who took down the tiger?” Poppy glanced over at Tora who was staring at them with—no emotion showing—wondering how she was supposed to act. 

“Hello, sir. I’m Poppylan, nice to meet you.” She gave a little bow and when she straightened, she noticed the man was eyeing her curiously. “Ah.” 

“You remind me of someone I knew...” 

“That’s exactly what I said, dear,” Claire said as she took her husband’s hand and directed him to sit down next to her. “I just don’t know who exactly. Are you from around here, dear?” 

“Well, I grew up around here, but my parents moved me out to a small town a couple hours away. I just recently moved back because I got a job here.” Poppy smiled at Tora who had squeezed her hand under the table. “I was riding around town when I met Tora.” Technically, that wasn’t a complete lie, since she had met him at the train station when he had been stalking him. 

“Okay. So, what do you do, Poppy?” Vince asked as his wife poured him some orange juice into a glass and some ...maid!? Brought out their food. 

“I work with your son, Sir. I’m an editor at the company. Oh, thank you!” She tried not to look extra surprised with the amount of food that was placed before them. Tora smirked behind his glass because she had that same look she’d had when they’d eaten at Alice’s. 

“Lady with a brain, I like that. Tora... so what have you been up to ….?” 

. 

.

“Say, Poppy, what do your folks do for a living?” 

Poppy looked up at Vince as they all took a stroll through the garden in the backyard to show Poppy the house and walk their breakfast off. 

“My mother worked for a small newspaper company and she did that until she passed away. My father is an accountant. He’s still doing that, but I think he’s getting ready to retire.” 

“Oh, really? Did he work as an accountant here before he moved away?” Vince asked as he plucked a rose off a vine and wrapped his handkerchief around it before giving it to his wife. 

Tora walked a little behind them as he smoked, so he let Quincey stand next to her. He’d been quiet for a while and he wasn’t surprised since it seemed the older he got, the less he connected with his father. He didn’t want to interrupt Poppy, really wanted to listen to what she was explaining about her family. It was strange that they’d been together for a while but hadn’t actually talked about her family in depth. 

“Yes. He says that he worked for a big company here in the city, but I was only about five or so when we moved...” That perked Quincey up and he grinned to himself as he remembered the conversation he’d had with Tora about his childhood ‘crush’. “...He said that he didn’t like the environment to raise me in, so he decided to move us. I was, according to him, starting to become a handful...” 

“I wonder if I ever met him. What’s your father’s name?” 

“Robert Wilkes.” 

Claire and Vince stopped while Quincey and Poppy kept walking. Tora nearly walked into them from behind.   
“Somethin’ wrong?” Tora asked as he went around to face them, Quincey and Poppy finally realizing they had left them behind. 

“Sir?” 

“Poppy, you say your dad was an accountant? Last name Wilkes? And all he told you was that he’d moved you so that you...” 

“I was becoming a handful,” Poppy replied and gave a giggle. “But Dad can exaggerate sometimes.” 

Claire looked excited and a little confused. “Oh my god, Vinnie, do you realize what this means?!” All three younger people looked at them in confusion. 

“I don’t think... that wasn’t her name...” 

“Excuse me? Is there something wrong?” 

“Yeah, you guys got a little cryptic there...” Quincey stated as he frowned at his parents. 

“Well, when the boys were younger, maybe about nine or ten, we had an accountant that worked with us. Funny thing, his name sounded very similar to your father’s...And he had a young daughter. She was this itty-bitty, cute little thing and very accident prone...” Claire started as she looked at Poppy trying to study her, trying to find something in her. 

“Yeah, she used to follow the boys around and it drove them crazy. She had taken a liking to Quincey, she liked his hair.” Claire said with a grin. 

“Ah! I remember that! That kid was annoying! She would pull my hair!” Quincey said as he struck a pose. “But it only lasted until she caught sight of Tora. She was like a puppy following around its owner.” 

“Hmm.” Tora seemed to be genuinely confused but then he frowned. 

“That’s funny, I was and am very accident prone,” Poppy giggled. “My dad bought me a helmet.” 

Claire and Vince looked at each other again. “He’d also bought her a helmet...” 

“If it wasn’t for your last name, I could’ve sworn that you and her were the same person!” Claire laughed softly. “But that would be too crazy. Her name wasn’t Poppy.” 

“It was Lani. Or at least they called her Lani.” Tora replied and they looked at him. He was frowning slightly. “I don’t know if that was her name.” 

“Yeah, not Poppy.” Vince agreed and they turned to walk away again. 

“That was my mom’s nickname for me.” 

They all turned to face Poppy who had turned pale. 

“She called me Lani, because I didn’t like Poppy since there were these boys that used to make fun of me. They would call me _poopy_ and _puppy._ She used the second part of my name...” 

Vince glanced over at Tora who was still staring at the girl. “Tora’s mother had made a comment that Lani would make Tora a good wife someday...with how devoted she was. Lani’s mother agreed, she found Tora’s and Lani’s interaction quite humorous, but her dad didn’t like the attention the five-year-old was getting from Tora. He was already nine going on ten by then...” 

Poppy’s heart was hurting. Could it be? Nah. For real? Was her dad involved in gang business before... Unless this was some very legit coincidence, she wasn’t sure what else to think. 

“What was the last name of your accountant, Mr. Balthuman?” Poppy asked shakily. 

“Sullivan.” 

Poppy let out a nervous laugh. 

“That’s my dad’s other last name... Robert Wilkes Sullivan.” 

“Well, shit.” 

. 

_After_ a momentary melt-down with Poppy squatting close to the ground with her head very close to her knees, and brief hyperventilation, Tora had managed to calm her down. 

_What are the odds_ , thought Poppy, _of me returning and becoming that love-sick puppy-like girl following Tora around like an idiot?_

While Quincey was excited that this was going to make a good love story, Tora didn’t know what to think. From what he remembered from his youth, Lani... err, Poppylan, had been this mousy five-year-old trying to follow him everywhere. She was an only child and sadly, the rest of the children close to her age at that time were the clan children... 

He remembered her now. Wide-eyed, stubborn, with a bob-cut, and her a cat ragdoll she always dragged around with her. She had grown out of the bob-cut, but everything else was still the same. She was, however, not that mousy, tiny girl that made his blood burn in annoyance, but with something else now... 

_“_ You know what? I think Mary had decided to get you two together when you grew up. I think that’s what got your dad angry. He didn’t...really like Tora that much, but then again, Tora started developing an attitude problem around the time he hit seven, so I can’t blame the man... “Vince stated. 

“What are the odds?” Claire commented with a sigh. “Two young childhood crushes, brought together by fate years later...” 

“Good story, no, mom?” Quincey said happily as he typed away notes on his phone. 

“My mom arranged my marriage to Tora?” Poppy asked in disbelief as she stood back up. “I was five!” 

“Your mom was a little eccentric. Lovely woman, just a little out there.” 

“I can’t believe it. I’m s-sorry... Mr. Balthuman I’m going to have to take my leave. I’m not feeling well.” 

“Go ahead, Poppy. I’ll have one of my chauffeurs take you.” 

“No, need. She came with me and leaves with me,” Tora answered as he held on to Poppy’s trembling hand. She didn’t look so good. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but he had an inkling it was because of what she’d learned about her father. “Come on, Pops.” 

“Yeah.” She gave the Balthumans a bow before following Tora out across the garden. 

“Vince, do you think that it’s really her?” 

“Yeah. She looks the same except as an adult. He still has Tora by the tail even now.” 

“Why did you ask about the last name? You knew it was Wilkes.” 

“Well, just to be sure. Robert was smart, no wonder his daughter is the same way. She’s got Mary’s spirit though. I don’t think she’ll be a stone in Tora’s path, so we’ll let it slide.” Vince said with a shake of his head. 

“I wonder what her father will say.” 

Vincent simply laughed and started back to the house. Quincey was giving his mother nervous glances, and hoped Tora knew what he was doing. 

. 

.

 **They** rode in silence, Tora not really quite sure what he should tell her. She had been staring out the window for the last couple minutes and she hadn’t said anything. He could tell she was upset, but she hadn’t even started crying. 

“Tora?” 

“Hmm.” 

“Do you think that I’m annoying? Like a puppy following its owner around?” 

That got him to look at her briefly 

“No. Did you really think that Vince was telling the truth about your dad?” 

“I didn’t want to... Or just didn’t think so...The signs all point that he was saying the truth.” 

“Then wanna explain why you look so down?” 

“I... Ha. Hilarious that my mother would think of such an idea! Me and you, married. Ha!” Poppy laughed nervously before looking out the window. “My dad would kill me...” 

“Hmm. Well, I don’t think you’re annoying.” 

“Hmm. Oh, I forgot!” 

Poppy pulled out a tube she’d kept in her bag since the morning. It was one of the lipstick tubes that Quincey had dropped by for her. It was one of the colors that she would probably never wear anywhere else except for Tora. It was his birthday after all. He’d gotten a little frisky the Friday before, and yesterday, and he’d mentioned the dark lipstick idea. He probably thought that she had forgotten, but... 

“I have a present for you...” she started as she pulled off her seatbelt and Tora glanced over at her. He didn’t notice her lips until she whispered into his ear, “Happy birthday, Tora.” He looked at her, trying to keep his eyes on the road and the woman beside him, and his stomach clenched. Her lips were a dark, blood-red, almost black. 

Fuck. The same color that he’d imagined her with.... 

“Wait, what are... _Poppy...”_

She had never done this before. Sure, they’d done many things over the past year, but this was the one thing that he never let her do... 

Her hands went down to his zipper, and Tora swallowed hard. It was so freaking hard trying to not pull- over and throw her to the back seat. The heels and that lipstick? Fucking hell. 

He shuddered slightly when her hand covered his hardened length. Hand job in a car, why yes, thank you... Except... 

“Wait, what are you doing P-Poppy?” 

“Birthday present.” 

“You don’t have to do that.” He groaned when her hand simply moved against his skin, hot and steady. 

“I want to.” 

“I...” 

He’d gone down on her plenty of times, thus the knee to the face one time. He still couldn’t believe that someone as beautiful as her didn’t have any experience... She’d been a virgin, for fucks’ sake! And now, he thought back to what they’d talked about earlier and how... she’d make a good wife because she was so devoted. But his life had been a whole mess and even if he hadn’t killed anyone recently, he still couldn’t get over the fact that he felt so damn unclean 

“Shit!” 

He jumped slightly and stared open-mouthed when he leaned down and... Poppy’s head on his lap... and her blood-red lipstick-stained mouth on his damn … 

“Mmm.” 

She wasn’t really sure what she doing, having not done this before, but she got a pretty good idea what she was doing was working because of the sounds he was making. 

She had started off simply by running her cheek against his length, watching his eyes to see his reaction. He had tensed up immediately. When she pressed a simple kiss to the head, he had tried to say something, but his words had come out a jumble. She’d had his hands all over him before, and this particularly entertaining appendage of his was not the exception. 

Leaning down, she kissed the tip again, holding her lips for longer than before, and Tora groaned as he slipped his hand into her loose hair. “Poppy, you really shouldn’t…” 

“But I want to,” was her answer and he could feel her breath as she spoke against his head. 

“I just… would hate myself…. Not right,” he gritted as she poked her pink tongue out and ran it down from the base to the crown. 

“I want to, Tora,” she glanced up at him for a moment, “You’re beautiful.” 

“Ungh!” He groaned and probably grabbed her hair harder than intended when she opened her mouth and took him in. “Shit, shit, shit!” 

She waited, then made a sucking motion with her tongue. It wasn’t so bad, she could do this. It was still difficult trying to make her lips around since he was pretty well-endowed, but she could do this and perfect it with practice. And Poppylan Wilkes was no quitter. 

When she realized that he wasn’t going to try to yank her off of him, she begun to bob her head, taking only what she could without trying to make herself gag. Not today, no. This was for him. 

“Poppy, Poppy, Poppy…” he was breathing faster now, harsh. His fingers in her hair kept clenching and unclenching but he hadn’t tried to do anything else. She pulled back with a pop of her lips, and went back to tasting him—the spongy sensitive head that had him muttering nonsense, the warmth shaft… down to… “What the… ugh!” He moaned when she took the soft sac underneath into her mouth, rolling the sensitive insides with her tongue. Where the hell had she learned to do that!? Her hand never stopped moving over his shaft as her lips worked on the rest of him. 

Fucking blowjob of his life in the car? _Fuck_ yeah. 

She moved her lips back to the top, licking the head before closing her lips around it and –she thought for a second—she pressed her tongue to the small hole at the tip and felt his clench his fingers hard. Ah. So he liked that! 

Honestly, she was just playing it by ear…. Err, lips. 

She tried to look up at his face and saw his eyes were closed. Ah, he’d pulled over… 

Remembering something that Erdene had mentioned during one of their girl dates, she sucked on the head, hearing him groan, and opened her mouth as best as she could. With a deep breath, she sunk her head down taking in as much as she could, making him groan loudly, the hands at her hair finally clenching and staying. She felt the soft pressure of his hand as he moved her head up, only to push it back down again. 

Ah. 

“Fuck, Poppy. You’re insane… Fuckin’ siren lips…Ah!” 

She tried to breathe through her nose and relax as he finally took over, lifting her head and pushing it back down enough so that he didn't choke her, not her first time around... He did that for while, panting and hissing as he felt her soft lips and warm mouth all around him. And then she felt him, at the back of her throat. She closed her eyes and tried to think of Erdene's tips. 

_Deep breath, relax, open wide…maybe do as if you’re humming… a little swallow should be fine._

“GAH! FUCK, FUCK… Yess, Poppy, your mouth… Shit!” 

She gasped as her lips pulled off of him with a very loud _pop_ and before she knew what was going on, he cranked the driver side seat all the way to the back and pulled her over to straddle him. 

“We can do that some more later, Pops, but I really want to come inside of ya. It’s my birthday, and I should choose, no?” 

Poppy nodded with a whimper when he squeezed her bottom, one round glove in each hand. Be reached under the dress, yanking it up around her hips as she moved against him. She held him at her center, holding him there so that she could push against him every time she moved. 

He wiggled his pants down further and reach for her pantyhose, thinking better of it, and instead of pulling them down, he tore a hole between her legs. 

She gasped and shudder. It was going to be a rough ride, she’d never seen him _this_ wild before. But… tonight _had_ been different and she was riding on adrenaline, he was riding on her blowjob and what better way to end the night? 

“Hold on to me,” he told her as he raised her up slightly, “It’s gonna be—” 

“Rough? Oh, I _know_.” 

“Then, hold tight. Unnngh!!!” He thought he was seeing stars when he sunk into her and felt her clenching heat. She was still wearing her pantyhose, her heels, her outfit. They hadn’t even taken anything else off at all, just moved the necessary pieces aside. 

“Tora!” she panted as she threw her arms around his neck and planted a wet kiss on his lips. “Oh, god, oh, god! Aaah!” 

He held her hips in his huge hands, lifting and slamming her back down in time with his thrusts. He was being way too rough, _too_ _rough_ … 

_Would make Tora a good wife someday…_

What were the odds that they would run into each other again and fall for each other just like before? That tiny girl with the wide eyes now sitting over his lap, riding him like no tomorrow. 

She’d been waiting for him, no other reason why she had still been a virgin, but to wait for him. Even if she said no, that she’d been in a relationship with Julri, but she’d never _slept_ with the idiot. So… 

_She followed him everywhere… very devoted …_

_She’s in love with you, Quincey told him._

_How would you know that?_

_Because no woman looks at you the way she does unless they are…_

_And **you’re** in love with her…_

She’d been fucking **_his_** since the beginning, since they were kids with no knowledge of what it could be… But now, he wasn’t going to fuckin' let it go. Whatever that idiot boyfriend of hers had done to her, any touches, any kisses he planned to erase them all...HAD erased them from her mind, he was sure. He saw the way she reacted, her body as if on auto-pilot when it came to him. There was no Julri, no other boyfriend, only him, Tora, and there would be no one else after him. Only fuckin' him...

He lifted his eyes up to hers which stared back at him unfocused. He lifted his hands to her face, cradling her head as he continued to move inside her. He kissed her, angling his head so he could deepen the kiss, tasting her moans and sighs. 

When her body begun to tremble against his, her hips faltering in their movement, he threw his arms around her, cradling her to him and holding her in place as he moved under her. He stared at her face, watching her eyes fill with tears as she writhed in his arm, sucking in breaths, and her eyes closed as she came down hard, crying his name out, her body shaking uncontrollably… 

“…Love ya…” 

Her eyes snapped open in shock. “W-what?” 

“I fuckin' love ya, Poppy…” he grunted and gave a hard, deep push before he came as well, so damn hard his ears were ringing. 

Poppy watched his body come apart, felt him inside her, and came again gasping his name in the dark… 

. 

They were laying in bed together much, much later. They’d said nothing after their little tryst in the car and he’d driven them home to their apartment. 

Once that front door had closed, however, he’d fallen on her like a starving man. 

Now, they laid there, Poppy on her side with her back to his chest as they spooned. 

He’d thrown an arm over her and was holding her hand, enjoying the way her fingers traced shapes over his. 

“Hey, Poppy?” 

“Hmm?” 

“We’re getting married.” 

She stopped for a moment, then continued making swirls on his hand with her fingers. 

“Okay.” 

He was expecting her to say yes, would probably have a heart attack if she had said no. Still, the fact that she said _okay, an_ agreement, had him wanting to cry. 

He pulled her closer to him, neither said anything else as they laid there pondering their future. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO, i had trouble trying to figure out what age to give these kids. I was trying to figure out how old Tora would be when Balthuman had started training him. I figured 9 or 10 is still relatively young, and obviously quite damaging for a child. His mother has died and he pretty much has no adult figure except for thr Balthumans and clan members. No wonder he shuts everyone else out! Growing up in SoCal and seeing all these kids going into gangs and stuff really opened my eyes and the next chapter (possibly last) will include some of the things I learned occured to kids getting initiated, and to those that wanted out. Because you can, there's just some steps you have to go through....
> 
> Tora might be a man of few words, but I swear his proposal was by far more romantic than what I got, which was:  
> "Hey, i thought about asking you to marry me..."  
> "What? When? What....!?"  
> "Last year. But I figured you'd freak out, so I changed my mind and didn't ask you."  
> "Ah, okay..."  
> ....  
> ....  
> ....  
> "So?"  
> "Yeah, you're not ready for me to ask you."  
> "(-_____________________-)"
> 
> still not married, and now single with no one to mingle with. xD


	9. when the heart breaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the heart breaks... Poppy and Tora have to face some difficult decisions... Will they come out unscathed on the other side?
> 
> All characters belong to Miss Lilydusk, follow her on Webtoon "Midnight Poppy Land" and on her Patreon. ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Fragile (feat. WRENN)"-- GNASH  
> "Everything I Wanted"- Billie Eilish  
> "Lovely"-Billie Eilish  
> "impossible"- James Arthur  
> "Yeah Boy and Doll Face"- Pierce the Veil

Tora didn’t mention anything to Poppy about what he said the previous night. She didn’t bring it up and it was really strange the way that she had avoided the topic all together. 

They ate breakfast in relative silence, with him only asking her how she’d felt meeting the Balthumans and she said it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be. He nodded back in agreement and nothing else was said. 

He sat on the couch for a while trying to get some work done—if stalking people on the internet was work—and messaging back and forth with Gonzo and Quincey. It still bothered him that she hadn’t brought it up. He said they were getting married after all! You would think that she’d been screaming and crying and calling Erdene to tell her. All she’d said was okay. He wasn’t much for emotional crap, but even that sounded so… unemotional or uninterested from her part. 

It was making him a little nervous. He figured she was still trying to wrap her head around what the Balthumans had revealed about her parents, her father in particular, and what they had going on between them. 

She went about her day, doing laundry, dishes, and cooking for dinner that night—it was Thanksgiving—and yet, she never brought up his marriage proposal. Okay, so maybe it hadn’t been the best proposal, per say, more of an announcement, but she had to give him some credit. In his defense, he hadn’t planned on ever being in a long-term relationship with anyone, much less proposing to anyone at all. 

Later that afternoon, she told him to hit the showers because dinner would be ready and Quincey and Erdene would be over soon, so he did. He was in a bad mood and she knew it, could see it on his face and it was set into a stony, bored look. It annoyed her a little, so she said he needed to _Cool off and wash off the attitude_ , the little jerk. So, he did, shower with icy cold water to try and cool off all the annoyance and edginess he was feeling, all the crappy emotions that were of no help and which he had tried to ignore for the last couple years. But it was hard to ignore it, and he couldn’t understand why people went about caring too much—until it hit him that it was a little difficult to not care in the first place. Maybe he just didn’t have anything important in his life before Poppy that would make him worry and think and feel. Next to her, he felt like the damn Grinch while she was little Miss Cindy Lou. 

But still! What the hell, Poppy? Nothing? Not even an... _I love you???_

He felt his face flush hot when he remembered what he’d said. She hadn’t said it back. But if she hadn’t felt it, then she wouldn’t have said ‘okay’ to marriage, right? 

Fuck. 

He needed to clarify this, needed to set it straight and he would, now. 

He shut the water off, pulling a big fluffy towel off the rack as he dried off whatever he could quickly and wrapped it around his waist. Fuck if she screamed at him, or got mad at him for not being dressed and ready. 

This was most important either way. 

He stomped out the bathroom and down the hallway to the kitchen, but he didn’t find her there. 

“Poppy! We need to talk. I wanna know why the—who the _heck_ are ya?” 

“Who the heck are _you_?” 

**Two** things had happened between the time that Tora was showering and the time that Poppy stood in the kitchen finishing up dinner... 

One, Tora was getting on her nerves. He’d been super moody all morning, shooting her angry looks, and she didn’t know why. You would think that what they’d done in the car the previous night would make him relax, not extra cranky. Then again, who the heck knew what really went through Tora’s head? 

Two, she was muttering and grumbling, starting to feel like Tora as well, when the front door rang and she thought it was weird since it was about another hour or two before Quincey and Erdene were to arrive. Quincey would probably be on time, and Erdene tended to be late to all events. So, the doorbell ringing was definitely strange. 

She sighed and lowered the heat on the oven as she padded out to the living room. 

“Going! I’m going! Hold your horses!” she called out as she wiped her hands on her apron. “I heard you the first ti—Dad!?” 

“Hi, sweetheart! Aren’t you happy to see your father!” Her father smiled at her and shoved a pie into her hands. Poppy heard Tora stomping down the hallway and instantly panicked _. Oh shit... Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit._

““Poppy! We need to talk. I wanna know why the—who the _heck_ are ya?” 

They both turned to the other side of the living room where her mostly naked—and wet—boyfriend stood with a towel around his waist. He looked as surprised as she felt when he saw her father standing next to her. 

“Who the heck are _you_?” her father asked back as he stared at the giant, half-naked man in his baby daughter’s apartment. He turned to Poppy who was holding on to the pie as if her life depended on it and resembled a bright tomato. 

“Uh, Dad, this is Tora.” She looked at Tora as if pleading for him to behave. “My, uh, boyfriend.” 

Tora, now past his shock, blushed bright red in embarrassment. He bowed slightly towards the older man. 

“Nice to meet you, Sir. Tora.” He lifted his red face to them and added, “Let me go change.” And disappeared back into the hallway. 

“Poppylan Wilkes Sullivan. Want to tell me what the heck is going on here?” Robert pointed in the direction where Tora had disappeared to. “A man? A very naked man in your house? Lady, you are twenty-two! Is that the reason why you didn’t want to go back home for the holidays?” 

“But Dad! I know I’m twenty-two. I-I... know it looks bad and stuff and...” Well, what the hell was she supposed to say in this case? _Hey, dad this is my ridiculously hot, killing machine of a boyfriend, which by the way, lives with me, and with whom I get to have super sexy sex time?_ She could, but she doubted her dad wanted to hear that. 

She led him to the living room couch and told him to take a seat, as she placed the pie on the coffee table. 

“I thought you were moving here to work, not to...” Robert himself looked flustered and she couldn’t blame him. Tora had that effect on people the first time they met him. “He’s full of tattoos.” 

“He’s not _full_ of tattoos,” Poppy mumbled as she shook her head. She should know considering how well acquainted she had become with his gorgeous body.

“How would you know?” Robert squinted his eyes at his blushing daughter. “Never mind! I don’t want to know! What were you thinking? I thought you were a good girl!” 

“She is a good girl,” Tora said from the doorway as he made his way to them. “She is a good girl. And I probably don’t deserve her, but I'm not letting her go anywhere. That girl there, sir, has more spunk than any other person I’ve ever met. If you think I'm bossing her around in any way, you’re mistaken. Not only does she scare me at times, but she’s managed to punch me in the face a couple of times, as well as bust my lip open.” 

“What kind of... Why would she need to do that?” Robert was now red-faced as well, and looking confused and angry. 

“She has an attitude problem, I got her mad and she hit me.” Tora grinned slightly as he remembered the first time she’d punch him on the face. “We weren’t the best of friends when we first met, but she put her foot down and has never let me get my way. She’s quite bossy.” 

Poppy was looking even redder than before, but she said nothing, just turned back to stare at her dad. 

“Dad?” 

“Give me a second, Poppy. I’m trying to process this.” He ran a hand down his face and looked over at Tora. “And how old are you?” 

“Uh, twenty-seven?” 

“You said your name is Tora?” 

Tora bowed slightly, “Tora Nishioka, nice to meet you, Sir. I apologize for, uh, earlier.” 

Robert’s eyes widened when he saw Tora fully for the first time, his eyes, and that hair. But he paled slightly when he saw the circular tattoo on the side of his neck. 

“You’re _the_ Tora with Balthuman, aren’t you?” he whispered back as he stared at the younger man. Tora didn’t know what to do anymore. Poppy jumped up and went to stand by his side, holding on to his side as she entwined her hand in his, holding tightly. Robert stared at them, his bright daughter holding on to the darker man as if her life depended on it. He was clenching her hand as if he expected Robert to yank her out of his grasp and take her away. 

“Sir...?” 

“The boy with the Tiger eyes,” he commented and shook his head. With a short laugh, he stood and paced a couple steps. “Your mom sure had a weird sense of humor some times,” he glanced over at Tora who looked as confused as he felt. 

“Dad, does this mean that you worked for the Balthumans? Because they say that they know you. And that you didn’t like Tora being around me when we were kids.” 

“He was like ten and you were five. You kept trying to follow him everywhere. The kid was a punk, running around the city with the other clan kids as if they owned the place,” Robert pointed out, and it made Tora’s jaw clench. Poppy felt the way he tensed up next to her. “But I guess it doesn’t matter now, since you still ended up with him.” 

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Poppy commented in Tora’s defense. “Tora’s been nothing but caring and protective of me.” 

“Poppy, do you see that circle on his neck? It pretty much means that he _belongs_ to the Balthumans. It means that anything the boss says, goes. It’s not the safest life for you to be involved in, love. I’m a little scared to ask how you two met again...” 

“So you _did_ work for them as well. You cannot tell me that it’s a dangerous life when you lived the same way. I’m only involved with _Tora_ , Dad, not his life or work. I work my own job, for the publishing company. I don’t hang out anywhere near their clan.” 

Robert shook his head sadly and glanced up at Tora who was still quiet. “His connection to them is even stronger because he was raised and trained by Vincent Balthuman himself. If Vincent says to leave, he has to leave. Poppy, I was around enough to see the way Vincent trains the kids. For some reason, he took special liking and care of him. I’m telling you this so you know how it is.” 

“But Dad...Momma saw something good in Tora. She liked him.” 

“Your mom liked a lot of people, Poppy, you know how she was.” 

“Why can’t _you_ be that way, too?” 

“I’m trying to keep you alive.” 

“Tora’s kept me alive, Dad! I haven’t felt this alive since Mom died. Julri cheated on me, he left me for some other woman who was able to give him things I refused to give him. Tora has never forced me into doing anything I don’t want. He makes me feel _alive_...” Poppy exclaimed as she hugged herself. "Alive and useful. He doesn't treat me like a dumb kid or if I'm made of glass."

“I’m trying to be as positive as I can be, Poppy. But...I’m really scared for you.” Robert sat back down and cradled his head on his arms. “I left this city to give you a better life. Away from the Balthumans. Away from everything.” 

“Away from Tora, Dad?” Poppy whispered and he glanced up at her. 

“He was a wild card, Poppy. The other kids were scared of him. His father was targeted and killed because of his affiliation to the clan and for being Vincent’s right-hand man.” Tora frowned. What. “His mother... died when he was young... And she was a little infamous for her own actions. I cannot force you to leave Tora, but I have to at least warn you about what you’re getting yourself into.” 

“I’m in love with your daughter, Sir.” Tora finally spoke up. “I cannot leave her. She’s been my only...the only stable thing during this last year.” Poppy stared wide eyed when Tora dropped to his knees and bowed before her dad. Robert looked the same way, and if the situation wasn’t so tense, it would’ve been so comical the way they both looked so similar. “I want to marry your daughter, Sir. This is my formal request for her hand in marriage.” 

“Tora...” Poppy was going to pass out. 

Robert didn’t say anything for a while. With a sigh, he shook his head and Poppy didn’t know whether to scream or cry. “I cannot agree to put my daughter in danger willingly. I can’t do it, not unless I was absolutely sure that she wouldn’t be living her life wondering if today was going to be the day that you don’t return home.” He gave another sad little head shake. "I can't have Poppy live the same life your mother did, Tora, wondering where your father was, and if he was still alive..."

“Dad...?” Poppy’s heart was racing, pounding, and she whimpered. “I’m going to marry him.” 

“You can marry him if you want, sweetheart. But I won’t give my blessing.” He patted Tora on his shoulder, wanting to say something to him, but not quite knowing what to say. He finally squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, and went to give Poppy a tight hug. “I’m heading home, baby. I’ll call you later.” 

“Dad... Please.” Poppy asked as she sank her face onto his shoulder. 

“I’ll call you later, Poppy.” He glanced back at Tora who was now sitting on the floor staring at the wall. “Goodnight, Tora.” 

“Good night, Sir,” he replied, but didn’t look back. 

No one moved until they heard the click of the door as he left. Tora stood up and went to embrace Poppy who was still standing in the same spot staring at the closed door. 

..

“Wait, so her dad showed up here and said that he disapproves of you two getting married?”

Tora and Quincey stood outside on the balcony. Tora was on his third cigarette already.

“He says I can, just we don’t have his blessing.” Tora muttered and cursed as he stared back out to the city.

“Then that’s okay. It would’ve sucked if he had said absolutely not,” Quincey replied in a positive tone.

“It doesn’t work that way, Quince. Look at Poppy. She’s a wreck. She hasn’t stopped cryin’ since he left.” He nodded towards the living room where Erdene sat with his girlfriend trying to soothe her. The shorter girl had stopped sobbing, but was now crying silently, her face puffy and eyes red.

“But you’re going to marry her either way, though… Right?”

“Hmm.”

“Right, Tora?” Quincey asked again, and when all Tora did was clench his jaw and keep staring out at nothing, he sighed. “Since when has it bothered you what people think?”

“All the time, I just zone it out. I’m not a fuckin’ rock, Quince, despite outer appearances.” Tora sighed heavily and threw his cigarette to the ground to crush it. “I just wanted to do right by her, once in my life. I wanted to do something right, ya know? But he said that it’s not the life he wants for her. She asked him why he didn’t like me as a child, and ya know what he said? He said because I acted like a punk, running around town with you guys like we owned the place.”

“But we do,” Quincey stated very matter-of-fact, earning himself a glare from Tora. “Okay, okay. But you know what I mean.”

“Quincey, I can’t continue living this type of life. I agree with Robert. What kind of life is it for her to be sitting at home waitin’ to see if I come home or if she gets a call saying I got killed? That’s not the life I want for her.” He gave his blond friend a tired look. “I’ve watched people I care for die because of me, Quincey. I… I love her, Quincey. I can’t do this, this… roulette game at life. She deserves so much better than you. I’ve got so much blood on my hands, it’s a surprised she hasn’t caught something from my touch…” Tora dropped his head and blushed. “She was a fuckin’ virgin, Q.”

Quincey who was looking back through the glass door, snapped his eyes back to Tora.

“Shut up. No way. She really is something else!”

“I fuckin’ ruined her. I just… can’t keep my damn hands off her. I refuse to let her go. She’s always been mine, since the beginning. Ya heard your Ma. Her own mom had decided that we were gonna be together when we grew up. She’s always been mine. Even… in that aspect.”

Quincey had thrown his hands into his hair, his face still surprised.

“So she really does have you pussy-whipped?” Tora scowled at him, “Okay. I’ll shut my trap. Calm down. Freakin’ hell, Tora! This is the most… strangest, cutest—and strangely erotic—thing I’ve ever heard! My man! You have to keep her. How can you walk away from that?”

“I… have to stop this type of life, Quincey.”

The blond frowned, tensing up a little. “Oh, boy. You of all people, know how that goes…”

“I know. I know. I’ve been there through initiations and removals…”

“Really think about this, Tora.”

“It’s not for me anymore, Quince.”

“Hmm. I get it… I'm just… scared for you.” Both men stood, resting against the railing staring out. “Fuckin’ hell, Tora. Give me a damn cig. Ya got me all sorts of frazzled dazzled!” Quincey finally stated as he nudged his friend on the side.

“Ya don’t even smoke anymore.” Tora complained when Quincey jabbed him on the side. 

“Yeah, well, I’m making an exception.”

“Bah!”

“Bah!”

They pulled out another cigarette each and smoked in silence until Erdene called them back in for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I don't remember what Tora's last name was at all! Can't remember if Lilydusk mentioned it on the previous version 🤔🤔  
> I remember there was an information sheet with their ages and stuff, but I dont recall his info that well.
> 
> I just chose NISHIOKA, because...  
> 1\. Sounded cool (lol)  
> 2\. Apparently means "hill" (the boi is huge) and descendants are actually samurais, or something. I was like (cool!)
> 
> Also, this:
> 
> "The name of Nishioka has given you sensitivity and appreciation for the finer and deeper things in life.
> 
> Your name has taken you into many bitter experiences.The greatest lack in your life is stability and peace of mind.
> 
> A peaceful and quiet environment, especially out in nature, is one of your greatest desires, but you are constantly taken into chaotic conditions.
> 
> Because you have high ideals and are a principled person, you have been disillusioned and disappointed in people on many occasions and have experienced much aloneness.
> 
> Impulsiveness could bring frequent accidents and unfortunate happenings into your life.  
> You do not like to be restricted or to have your freedom curtailed in any way.  
> You find it difficult to control your thoughts and could swing in moods from one extreme to the other.  
> Your speech can become very critical and sarcastic when you are frustrated or crossed."  
> .... i was like, this is Tora boi 😂😂😂😂


	10. Breaking...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tora can't help but feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. He knows that his current lifestyle is never going to let him live in peace with Poppy. When he makes the decision of his lifetime, will Poppy be there in the end for him...? Or will it all fall apart?
> 
> ** All characters are owned by Miss Lilydusk, from her webcomic , "Midnight Poppy Land" that you can find on WEBTOON.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Hanging on"- Active Child 
> 
> “Pieces”- Andrew Belle 
> 
> I SWEAR! I literally replayed these songs, especially HANGING ON a thousand times. It's just catchy, and a mood setter...!

……

Poppy did not feel like herself. 

Everything was a blur  since the day her father had shown up at her apartment.  She had already decided that she would talk to her father about Tora and the relationship they had going on, but with the uncertainty that had laid between them, she hadn’t figure out what to tell him. Were they dating? Were they a thing? Were they living together as friends, as fuck buddies? Then, luck would have it that the day after he’d said that they would marry, everything had to come crumbling down… 

Everything just felt so strained between Tora and herself. It was almost as if he’d crawled back into his icy shell and put up an extra  wall shutting her out. She had cried herself to sleep that night, spent the next day in bed moping, alone in the apartment because Tora had to leave on an emergency. Erdene had tried to get her to come out for a girl’s day, but Poppy had turned her down, stating she wasn’t feeling it. 

A week went by and even their private life was affected—Tora hadn’t tried to touch her beyond  a morning kiss… which was reduced to a kiss on the top of her head or forehead. She  didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to be  _ that _ girl being dramatic and clingy. She also felt horrible because her dad had obviously offended him… referring him to a punk and wild child. He’d even brought up his parents…

When the first week went by and he hadn’t tried to touch her, Poppy was sad. When Wednesday of the second week arrived and he simply came home, had dinner, and sat around until it was time for bed, she begun to get upset. They called it a night and she watched him strip down, tossing his clothes into the hamper—something he never did, he liked to toss his clothes everywhere—and go into the shower. He’d showered, changed into some pajama bottoms, and climbed into bed. 

She sat on the small bench in front of her dressing table brushing her hair and watching his reflection on the mirror. He was quiet, lost in his own thoughts and blatantly ignoring her. 

She’d had enough! He hadn’t even noticed that she’d styled her hair differently. Hadn’t noticed she’d gotten it trimmed a bit. Hadn’t mentioned anything about dinner, or his day, or even remotely asked her how she was doing. She was hurt, annoyed, angry that he was completely ignoring her, everything felt like the beginning when they’d first met. 

Awkward, icy, cautiously on edge and having to walk on eggshells around each other. 

She stood up and threw her hairbrush to the side. The sound had him raising his eyes to look at her, but he didn’t move otherwise. 

“Is that it?” she asked and glanced back at him. 

He finally looked up at her. 

“What is  _ it _ ?” He asked in a bored tone. The same tone he’d used on her when he’d found out that she knew Inspector Lane. 

“My dad says we shouldn’t marry and now you won’t even touch me? You won’t even  _ look _ at me?” she turned and glared at him, lips trembling. She swallowed hard, swallowing down that lump in her throat that threatened to turn into a sob. 

“I am  _ looking _ at you, Poppy.” 

“You know what I mean, Tora,” she clenched her fists at her sides. “What is wrong with you?” 

“Nothing is wrong with me. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replied with the same cool tone. 

“Why are you being like this?” Poppy asked as she went to stand by the foot of the bed so he would look at her instead of the TV behind her. “Cold, and distant? It’s the same fucking icy attitude from when we first met!” 

Tora said nothing. 

She waited.

“If you're not going to say anything, go sleep on the couch, because I don’t plan to sleep with you on the same bed,” she pulled at the sheets and made it into a ball. “This is too much like sleeping with a stranger…” 

“What would you know about sleepin' with strangers, princess?” 

“Don’t call me that!” she said angrily and threw the ball of sheets at him. He frowned. “If you’re not going to move, then I’m going to sleep on the couch then.” She yanked the sheets back and grabbed a pillow, turning to march out of the room. Except she didn’t make it further than halfway across the room before she felt Tora yanked her back. She slapped his hand away, “Don’t.” 

“You’re acting like a child, “ he muttered and yanked her against his body. 

“Said the pot to the kettle.” 

“Why are you being all dramatic? You sound like fuckin' Quincey.” 

“Are you serious? You've been ignoring me for almost two weeks, Tora. What happened to  _ ‘I’m in love with your daughter' _ ? Was that just for show?” Poppy stared up at Tora, his face dark and unreadable. When he didn’t say anything, she looked away, giving him a push to get away. “I should’ve known better… how many times did you tell me to not fall in love with you…” 

“Now you’re just being ridiculous, Poppy.” Tora commented with a scowl. What was going on now? What was happening? “Nobody is talking about not being in love.” 

“Maybe that’s the problem. We never talk about it. You’ve spent a year telling me to not fall in love with you, and I, like a fool, ignored it. I let it go because I thought you were different. But I should’ve known better especially when you specifically told me that as well when we first had sex.” She threw her hands over her face. “I’m an idiot! I should’ve never let you touch me!” 

He frowned. What the fuck? 

“Are you saying you regret being with me all this time?” he asked. 

“I’m saying, I should’ve known better. But I’m probably just as dumb and naïve as people think I am.” 

“Poppy.” He was losing it. What was happening? Why did he  feel  so broken? So scared, so very fucking scared. 

“ Leave me alone, Tora.  This is not working.” 

She turned to leave and he grasped her arm again, pulling her to his body once more, feeling her struggling against him. Not working?  Not working? What was that supposed to mean? 

“Are you giving up on us?” he rasped uncertainly as he looked into her eyes. They were teary and her lips trembling.  She looked just as bad as how he felt—disillusioned. 

“You tell me, because I really don’t know what to feel anymore… I just cannot be that one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t be. Falling in love with the first person that I slept with. But I guess that I’m so stupid… because that was my first mistake… Giving myself to someone I barely knew and… thinking it was love.” He watched the tears seep out from her beautiful round eyes and down her face. 

“Poppy..” he said softly as he cradled her against his chest. She cried softly and he felt her hot tears staining his shirt. Shit. What was he doing? His first mistake was sleeping with her. He should’ve never touched her, never gotten attached to her. It was all his damn luck, running into her on the side of the freaking road. How bad of a coincidence was it that they would meet again, when the rest of the world didn’t want them to? “Poppy, listen to me. I’m... trying to figure this out. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I just wish that you would talk to me, but you keep shutting me out.”

“I keep thinking back to what your dad told me. It’s still in my head, and I know he was right.”

“That we don’t belong together? Are you going to listen to someone that made their decision based on the opinion they had  _ on a child?  _ Tora, he doesn’t know you, I know you. Please, Tora. Don’t do this.” She pressed her hands to her face as she started crying.

“If he knew me, he would’ve taken you straight back home that night…” Tora said with a sigh as he dropped his hands and turned away.

“Seriously? Is that what you want?” Poppy paled, feeling her heart sink to her feet and crumble. “ _ Why _ are you doing this Tora? Why are you doing this to me? Do you even love me?”

He sighed. “You… know I do. If last time wasn’t a proof of that, I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Tora, were you even serious about us getting married?” He turned to look at her, saw her wide eyes, tear-stained face, the pain she was feeling. She hugged herself, the lack of touch making it feel like an ocean between them.

“Yes.”

“So, then…?”

“Your dad is right… about me putting your life in danger, Poppy. I can’t have people finding out you’re with me and something happening to you.” Tora cursed, running his hand through his hair. “They almost  _ killed you,  _ Poppy. You could’ve died because of me and we weren’t even together, but people assumed we were. What’s gonna happen if they knew we were married? Your father is 100% correct about what he said.”

“No! Are you saying we’re not going to marry? You cannot turn your back of me, Tora! You can’t take back your word!” She screamed back at him, but he said nothing. “You can’t do this to me, Tora. You told me you were serious about it…” He looked at her, eyes usually bright, dimmed and cold. The room felt so cold, while the only thing that were warm were her tears sliding down her face. “I gave myself to you, and after all this time, I guess I’ve just been an idiot to think you meant it!”

She turned to leave again, but he caught her arm. She tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let her go.

“Poppy…”

“Don’t say anything else, if you’re not going to keep your word.”

“I’m going to find a way out of all of this, Poppy. I promise you, even if it kills me.” She shuddered at his words, glancing back at him, because she remembered what her father had said about the clan men  _ belonging _ to Balthuman.

“You fool, I don’t want you dead, I want you alive and with me.”

_ Tora  _ pulled her back to him, hugging her tightly. 

He was fucking scared. For the first time in a really long time, he was utterly terrified of what could possibly happen to them. To her. Even to himself, because if something did happen to him, she would obviously suffer a lot. She held on tightly to him, arms around his waist, clenching. He could feel her fear as well, her pain and it killed him even more to know it was all because of him.

He pulled back slightly, cradling her face in his hands as he tilted it up to see his.

“I’m going to make this work, Poppy. I promise. I’ll… make it happen. Then you and I can move somewhere far away from here and start all over. You want a house? You’re going to get it. A cat, a dog, a fucking alligator, if you want it! I’ll get you ten!” he told her, and her lips trembled.

“But I don’t want ten alligators, Tora. The only thing I want is my tiger…” she whispered tearfully, holding on to his arms. “That’s the only thing I want.”

Tora’s heart clenched tightly when she said that. With a groan, he dropped his lips over hers, kissing her hard, hoping she felt his anguish just like he felt hers. He knew she was hurting, because he was feeling the same way. She moaned and clung to him, hands trying to reach whatever part of him that she could.

He pulled  her top over her head, the December night chill hitting her sharply and raising goosebumps over her body. The fire in his eyes was back, and it made her want to cry. She blushed brightly and he remembered that day outside of Alice when he’d found her smelling the fake plants. She’d been embarrassed when she’d realized that it was fake, yet played it off  coolly , saying she knew that. He dragged his shirt over his head as well, dropping it to the floor as he studied her. 

How many times had they been together like this? It wasn’t as if they had never seen each other naked before, but it felt different… probably because they finally knew what they were feeling—what it was that kept pulling them together again and again.

He walked her over the bed, pushing her softly down as he leaned over her. She pulled back to give him space as they laid there, breathing heavily. She was so damn beautiful it fucking hurt. Her soft wide eyes that he could easily read, that mouth that had shut him down again and again, but loved him once the barriers had broken down.

She dragged his head down to kiss him, parting her lips to his and enjoying the way they moved together, and there was nowhere else in this fucking world he’d rather be at…

With his hands, he caressed her, sliding them down slowly from her shoulders to her waist, holding her there for a moment while the velvety softness of her skin. Nobody else before her had been as sweet as her.

He pulled back on to his knees so that he could look at her. With trembling hands – what the hell—with trembling hands, he pulled her shorts off and she lay there beautiful as the first time he’d seen her that way. She reached out and touched his stomach, that same innocent hand that had punched him before and he laughed. She looked confused for a second and started to pull back her hand, but he took hold of it and kissed it, making sure to kiss each of her fingertips. 

_ I don’t think you’re the bad person you make yourself out to be. _

He ran his fingers down her collar bone, finding the small dip there, and moving down to the top of her breasts. If she blushed any more than she was already blushing she would resemble a tomato.

_ There should be no reason why you should care about the life of a weird nerdy girl you’ve barely met, but you cared enough to worry about me... _

_ Even after you’ve seen me kill today? _

_ Yes. _

She was beauty, she was grace, she  _ literally  _ had punched him in the face. 

He blushed as he remembered how he had tried to scare her, make her change her mind, and run away in fear. But she had stood her ground, and kept saying he was kind and caring and what he done? Torn her clothing and sneered at her as she laid there on the cold floor of his apartment. And yet, her eyes had never changed the way they looked at him, with tenderness and that... love he’d felt from her embrace and kisses.

He was still sin and she was still innocence despite everything he’d put her through over the last year. Even after his hands with the blood of many people had been laid upon her body, she was still clean and pure. And he didn’t deserve her.

But he wanted her, and he’d made up his mind that even if it killed him, he would be there for her for the rest of their lives.

_ Dammit, Poppy! Ya were a goddamn virgin!... I thought ya had a boyfriend, why the fuck would you still be a fuckin’ virgin? _

_ Tora, I didn’t want Julri... I want you. _

And then you’d taken her that first time—her  _ first  _ time— on the floor of your dingy apartment, his conscience reminded him and Tora felt his heart pang in regret. She didn’t deserve that, she deserved love and care, but she also hadn’t cared and let him do it.

He kicked off his pajama pants, finally going over Poppy again, pressing his warm body over hers. She sighed when he took her mouth again, tangling his tongue with her softly with no rush. Part of her was freaking out that this was different from the usual roughness of his... And it scared her to think it felt like a goodbye...

She ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the feel of his raven hair between them. Her fingers trailed down to his forehead, to the jaw that she admired because dammit, she was an arms and jaw type of girl... and he had good-looking one of those. She would be a liar to say that she hadn’t thought he was good-looking when they’d met and even though she hadn’t wanted it to happen, she had felt that lighting strike attraction between them. His golden eyes, his jaw, him in general, he was a beautiful man.

And she felt like the luckiest woman alive...

She sighed when his lips dropped to her neck, kissing his way down over her lips and even further, closing over her breast—making her cry out. 

“Oh god! Tora!” she gasped as he sucked, making her clench her fingers into her hair. His hand worked on her other breast, making her writhe underneath him. He let go of her breast to keep kissing his way down, stopping over her belly, enjoying the curves she had. Fucking Jacob had teased her that she was getting heavier, and she’d felt like the fattest girl in the world—not that it should matter what Jacob thought of her—but Tora, had defended her without hesitation. She remembered the way his eyes had darkened in annoyance and he’d told her she was fine.

When his mouth dropped further down, she blushed and threw her hands to her face in embarrassment. It didn’t matter how long they’d been sleeping together, he could still turn her to putty. The first time he’d gone down on her, or tried anyways, she’d freaked out and hit him on the face with her knee. She'd been aroused and mortified all at the same time, but he’d been a trooper and moved on to other things.

Tora watched the way her body moved, the way she was breathing harder, sounding like she had been running miles as he dipped his head between her legs. It pleased the hell out of him to know that nobody had  done this to her, had her like this, and even if she’d attempted a little humping session with Julri, he had never and would never see her come undone from his lips like he did…

“Oh god, oh god… oh, go-od…!” She wailed and he felt her thighs tighten around his shoulders from her climax. If he ever had to let  her go, he would take this memory of her to grave.

He straighten  up again, pulling her so she sat up as well and kissed her hard, tasting her tongue with his and putting her into a further daze.  He threw himself back onto the pillows and pulled her over him urging her to straddle his hips . She  squirmed over his lap, hands taking hold of his erection as she watched for his reaction play over his face. 

“Fuuck, Poppy. Touch me, touch me.”

How could they have gone almost two weeks without this? Without touch, without her hands on him? He  was amazed at his own self-control for keeping his hands off her all that time.

She moved her hand on him, enjoying the feel of his hot  skin and harden length in her hands. Fuck, embarrassment and everything that kept trying to keep them apart.  She kept her eyes on his, watching his golden eyes roam her body and she could’ve sworn she felt the scorching heat whenever they lingered.

Finally, when his hips were shaking as well from her ministrations, she pulled up closer, using one hand to press his hot length to her opening, watching his eyes zero in on the spot where their skin met… until finally, slowly, she took him into her body, sinking slowly over him until he was fully inside her.

Breathing raggedly, his hands dropped to her hips, squeezing softly and encouraging her to move. She lifted up slowly, not quite letting him  move out all the way, before sinking down again. 

This was torture, but a beautiful torture—watching her move over him, setting the pace of their lovemaking. He fucking loved everything about her, from the hair that he sometimes wrapped his hands in to keep her in place to those cute little toes of her… and especially everything in between. But it wasn’t just that, the way her brain worked and the way she was with her friends and him. He was so goddamn lucky.

He watched her rising and sinking, watched the way her breasts bounced in time with her rhythm, the way her hair swayed and moved with her. She was sweaty with exertion and some of that hair was sticking to her forehead, a loose strand falling over her shoulder to stick between her breasts. Her mouth was open, her lips pink and plump from their kisses, as she gasped for breath.

He  raised his hands to her breasts, caressing the soft gloves and holding them, making her whimper and bite her lip in pleasure.  He pulled her down slightly so he could take one  rosy tip into his mouth, and she moaned as she grabbed his hair in her hands. With one arm thrown over her  waist and one hand holding her shoulders, he started pistoning into her, throwing her rhythm off—not that she minded—and feeling her  sighs and moans come in quicker. He let go of her breast to pull her head down for a kiss, his tongue searching hers to move in a way that match his  thrusts below.

Her body was hot, her heart was pounding.  _ Jesus! What was he doing to her!? _

“I love you, I love you…” he groaned against her mouth tasting her sighs just as she was tasting his. “Whatever happens, you’re mine.”

“Yes!  Tora, Tora! TORA!” she  sobbed as her body clenched and all she could feel was that warmth, that fire burst like a thousand stats between her legs where he continued to move. 

That did it for him, watching her come undone over him, and knowing no one else could do that to her, that did it.

His hands clenched around her hips, holding her in place so that he could continue to pound into her from below. He snapped his hips faster, feeling that same electricity shooting through him , making his heart race just as fast as hers was.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck….argh!” He pumped one last time,  hard enough to make her cry out again, and held himself inside her, feeling her walls clenching around him,  taking him tightly, taking everything from him. “ _ Poppy _ ….”

It wasn’t until he turned his head to kiss her again that she noticed she was crying softly. She cradled his jaw as she kissed him softly, lovingly, and his heart clenched for what he knew he had to do for her, for him, for them…

It would hurt her, but she would understand… 

Hopefully.

When Poppy woke up the next day, she found herself alone in the giant bed. She held the sheets to her chest as she stared at the empty spot where Tora had slept beside her the previous night, the pillow still had the indentation left over from his head.

She noticed the closet door was open and a big part of his clothes were missing, leaving a gap. It wasn’t that much, but it felt gigantic in her soul. He’d left her.

_ “I’m going to find a way out of all of this, Poppy. I promise you, even if it kills me.” _

He’d left her and he might just not come back.

She’d become a widow before even becoming a bride. 

Poppy  drew her knees to her chest and cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to the end of this.  
> so sad, so happy, so relieved. and less stressed because I'm writing my life frustration into this.  
> Thank you for hanging around with me and my crazy mind. :)
> 
> AND TOMORROW, IT"S FRIDAY!! And you know what that means....MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND !!!!! WOOP WOOP. ;D


	11. The Harsh Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tora will do anything to be with Poppy and to keep her safe... But how far is too far?  
> Clan life has never been easy, he should know. But living out of it will be harder.  
> Will love truly be worth it in the end?
> 
> ..................................  
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO MISS LILYDUSK.  
> WEBTOON, "MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND". FOLLOW HER ON PATREON FOR GOODIES! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “These Things”- She Wants Revenge  
> “Bye Bye Beautiful”- Nightwish  
> “The Only One”- Evanescence  
> “Farther Away”- Evanescence  
> “I’m not afraid”- Lacuna Coil

…..

 ** _He_** knew that he should’ve at least told her where he was going.

But he also knew that it would’ve been impossible to pull away from if she had asked him to stay.

For the last year, it felt like there were two people inside him trying to pull him in different directions. One, Tora Nishioka, twenty-seven year-old man in love with Poppylan, the woman he thought he’d never find. The second, Tora, Tiger of Ares Street, killing machine, enforcer, deadly, infamous, wild...

What had happened since he’d met her? What had changed? He fell in fucking love with her, that’s what. And it scared the crap out of him, knowing that she could easily have control over him, over his heart, and sway his decisions. But she never demanded anything, until yesterday, when she’d begged and cried that he not pull away from her, didn’t block her out.

What had he done? Clung to her desperately and left her while she passed out from the night before, stuffed whatever he could find into a duffel bag, and walked out the door.

Tora sped through the empty highway, watching the lights from the posts flashing past him, blurring. He’d made up his mind, he knew the consequences, he knew he was heading for death, but for her, he would gladly run back to hell and back just so he could be with her freely.

Fuck. His phone rang loudly, breaking the silence of the car.

He'd shot Quincey a quick text, letting his blond childhood friend, ward, and boss, know about his decision—and now he was getting a call back.

“Tora.”

“ARE YA FUCKING OUT OF YOUR GODDAM CRAZY MIND!?”

Tora winced and pulled the phone away from his face as Quincey screamed at him through the speaker. He sounded angry. Quincey was rarely angry, mostly terrified of Tora, so this was definitely a sign of how he was feeling—desperate.

“No. Yes. Maybe.”

“TORA FUCKING HELL! WHAT ABOUT POPPY? THEY’RE GOING TO KILL YA’!”

“Stop screaming at me. I hear you. I thought about this very thoroughly. Don’t you think I know just what I’m getting myself into?”

“APPARENTLY FUCKIN’ NOT BECAUSE YOU’RE STILL ON YOUR FUCKIN’ ASS WAY OVER THERE!” There was some shuffling in the background and things being thrown around in the background. “I’m gonna fuckin’ meet ya there.”

“No, you’re not, Quince. You’re just going to piss your dad off even more.”

“No. Fuck this shit! Fuckin’ hell, Tora.”

“I’m hanging up now, Princess.”

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY MOTHERF-ING KEYS?” Tora could hear Quincey throwing things around. “LITTLE PIECE OF SH—”

“Don’t bother, Quincey. I have your keys.”

“TORA, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT. MOTHER—WHAT THE FUCK? IF THEY DON’T KILL YA FIRST, I WILL! DON’T HANG UP THE DAMN PHO—”

Tora had managed to slip into his friend’s apartment and gotten the keys. Nobody asked anything or wondered why there was a man slipping into the apartment at 6 a.m., but then again, they knew he was his bodyguard. Nobody would dare question him.

He knew what happened to the ones that tried to get out of the clan, it wasn’t good.

It was a difficult decision to make and most of the clan men and women lived their life surrounded by clan only, never making relationships, only enjoying each other’s company. Sure, some tried to start families, settle down—as much as you could call it settling down—with other clan folks, but the results usually ended up bad, with separation, babies growing up to become more clan men. It was a sad circle of life for them.

He was a perfect example of that same circle.

**Tora** arrived at the Balthuman place a little before eight, knowing full well that Vince was already up and about. That man barely slept, if any, and he couldn’t blame him. The business didn’t run itself. He pulled up to the gate and the man at the gate let him through easily, he recognized the red car as Tora’s.

He simply drove up at the curve where the steps to the house started. He glanced down at his phone, no calls or messages from Poppy, a few from Quincey, and a few missed calls from him as well.

Tora stared at his phone’s lock screen—a picture he’d taken of Poppy without her knowing. She was smiling warmly at something in her hands, which he remembered was one of those little baby hats she had finally managed to crochet for Erdene’s cousin. His heart clenched sharply because... he might not be able to see a pregnant Poppy give birth to any of _his_ own kids. _Their_ own kids. He fought back the wave of sadness that came over him, pushing it aside. He had to do this. He had to... because she deserved it.

He put his phone into his sweater pocket and got out.

“Hey, brother! You’re here early.” Tora glanced over at one of the younger men who welcomed him.

“I’ve got business.”

“You need Mr. Balthuman?”

“Is he busy, do ya know?”

“Not yet. He has a meeting in about an hour or so.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

Tora jogged up the stairs into the house.

Vincent Balthuman sat behind his giant desk in his main office. Claire had let him know that Tora needed to talk to him. She didn’t say about what, but he knew that Quincey had called her earlier. Whatever his son had told her had her in a nervous mood, she sat by the tall window on the other side of the room staring out towards the front yard.

She gasped softly, but said nothing else. Glancing back, he saw Tora’s car pull up to the house. He got out and chatted with one of his men before making his way up the stairs.

Soon, he heard the knock on his office door.

“Come in.”

Tora popped in, shutting the door behind him. He looked... cold, calculating. He was a man on a mission, his poker face revealing nothing to the normal onlooker, but Vince knew something must’ve happened between the time they’d had brunch together to now.

“Ah. You’re here early.”

“I need...to talk to you.”

Claire stared at him from her spot by the window, her face slightly pale and worried. She kept clenching her fingers in her lap. She kept silent though...

“Take a seat.”

“I’d rather not... I want to get it over with.”

“I see.” Tora glanced over at the men, fellow clansmen, who stood in the shadows of the office.

“I want...out.”

Claire gasped.

“I... see.” Vince stood up and walked around the side of the desk. Tora still hadn’t moved from his spot. He tensed up when Vince, blond and green-eyed, the older version of Quincey, walked around him, studying him. He didn’t say anything, but Tora knew it wasn’t because he was at loss for words, he was just extending the suspense.

He felt the heavy hand that rested on his shoulder.

“You understand what you’re asking?”

“Yes.”

“And you know the consequences.”

“Yes.”

“Tora, I cannot pick and choose favorites. You’ve been my right-hand man since you were a child. If I gave you a pass, everyone would start asking for the same treatment.” Vince came around to stand in front of the younger man. “You’ve been part of the family since you were...well, pretty much a baby. Your father and your mother, then you. But you are asking for a way out.”

“Yes, I know.”

“You must have a good reason for asking something so... dangerous.” Vince knew the reason, but he just needed the boy to say it out loud. Tora had never been one for mercy, he was his wildest man, and yet, here he was, risking his life for someone else.

“You would’ve done something similar for someone you loved...” Tora answered without hesitation. “If... Quincey’s life was on the line, wouldn’t you have done the same thing? Risk your life for him, Sir?”

Vince stopped and thought for a moment. His relationship with Quincey had become a bit strained over the last couple years as he had grown older, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care about his eccentric son...even if he didn’t show it as much.

“What’s your reason?”

“Poppylan.”

“Is she really that worth it that you would risk your life for her?”

“She’s been in love with me since she was five, and has stuck with me through all my shit shows. I don’t know why she loves me, but fuck it, if I’m not going to cherish that... I’m in love with her, and I’m going to marry her.”

Claire dropped her head, her hair falling around her and hiding the tears that were spilling from her eyes. This was perhaps the most she’d ever heard Tora speak. He had always been the quiet, recluse child, hard and calculating... Unemotional. It hurt her to think that she couldn’t reach out to him the way that she had hoped, raise him like a _child,_ like she’d done with Quincey, and had to watch from afar as Vincent had taken the child and... trained him to become the killing machine he was today.

“Be sure of what you want, Tora. Because once I give the word, it won’t be stopped.”

Green eyes met golden ones head on.

“I’m in love with Poppylan. I want... a change for her.”

Vince sighed, and pressed a thumb to his temple. “You’ve met her father, haven’t you?”

“Irrelevant.” Tora’s jaw twitched. “His opinion doesn’t affect me. I’m only here for her.”

Vince nodded slowly in agreement.

“What are you looking for exactly, Tora? I know that look on your face, tell me what’s on your mind.”

“I’ve got people’s blood on my hands, and it kills me every time I touch her. I’m soiling her, something so pure… I don’t want to _kill_ people for a living. I want to be able to walk around with her, in public, go places with her and not be worried that someone is going to try to kill us. Or that someone is going to try to do something to her because of me… I want… Children. With her. Her safety, to know that we’re not targets. That’s what I want. Something… I didn’t have.” Tora swallowed the lump that threatened to form in his throat. “You know that phrase, ‘I didn’t choose the thug life, the thug life chose me’? That’s literally my life, Sir. It wasn’t all my choice, it was my parents’ choice. I don’t want that for any possible children.”

Vince nodded.

“That’s your final word on this?”

Tora gulped. “Yes, Sir.”

Claire studied her husband’s face. Where was her son? He should be here trying to do something!

“Call in Tora’s men. They should be around the place.”

One of the men that had been standing in the shadows sent the group a quick message. Tora didn’t ask who was going to be called because he knew what the protocol was.

“Ya’ called?”

Scharch was the first to appear through the doorway and laughed in surprise when he saw Tora standing there. He’d been seeing less and less of Tora in the last couple months now he was here…

“Look what the cat dragged in!”

Tora wanted to punch him in the face, but he knew that he couldn’t.

Three other men, two of which were Tora's own, came in followed by one of Scharch’s own group, Claude. They eyed Tora, but said nothing, with the exception of Scharch who was quite the loudmouth. Vince had called in four of his biggest, heaviest, and more deadly ones, after Tora.

“So, what’s this important thing we gotta do?” he asked, and Vince gave him a look. “Uh.”

“Tora has decided that he wants to build a life for his own.” Vince didn’t look at anyone else, but Tora, who hadn’t blinked, hadn’t moved, hadn’t a said word, except continue to stand there and stare back at him. “He understands the protocol, understands what happens to the ones that decide to… turn their back on the clan.”

“Oh, ho ho,” Scharch started with a low snarl. “I am going to love this.”

“What?” The other three men looked at each other in confusion. Brother Tora wanted out? They didn’t want… They’d seen the way he fought, he was used to going on assignments alone, and coming out victorious. He was the bloodiest, deadliest fighter of the whole clan. Besides Scharch who lived for the thrill of blood and gore, there was no other person like Tora…

There was a reason why Balthuman had made Tora Quincey’s personal bodyguard, and obviously it wasn’t because they were together—they seen the pretty brunette he’d come with last time, that they knew he’d been living with.

“Sir?” Claude asked because he didn’t want to touch Tora unless he had to. The memory of his eyes burning from Tora’s cigarette ash still lingered on his mind. He hadn’t been able to see properly for about three weeks. “You’re saying that you want us to, well, pretty much beat him to death? Because he wants to get out?”

Tora finally glanced over at the group of men, at Claude who shuddered under his cold, emotionless glance. The other two men looks nervous.

“Yes. That’s what I’m trying to say.” Vince looked back at Tora, “Of course, I want to make myself clear on a couple things...”

“ **What** did I miss?” Shing Ma, clan financial advisor asked Claire as he came into the office by a side door. He took in Tora in the middle of the room, Claude, Scharch, and two of Tora’s men standing behind him, with Vincent in the front, staring at them. The tension of the room sending chills down Shing’s spine.

“Tora is leaving.” Claire said as she stared out the window. She didn’t want to see this. Not with her own…a child that she had taken in. She knew the rules, but damnit.

“I… Hmm.” Shing crossed his arms and leaned against the window next to Claire. He didn’t say anything else. He could tell that Scharch was itching to lay his hand on Tora, and Claude had a reason for it.

“One,” Vincent started. “No weapons. None of you. No knives, no guns, no weapons—only your hands, body parts, whatever. Two, you have fifteen minutes, whatever you can reach. But don’t touch the back of his head. And we don’t _kill_ him...”

“Then what’s the fun in this partin’ gift if we can't kill him?” Scharch asked with a disgusted look.

“I’m looking at you, Scharch.”

“Isn’t it the point that they regret leaving?” Claude chimed in, and Tora looked at him.

“Oh, he’ll regret it when he’s living through it.” Vincent said as he started walking back to his desk. Tora could feel his body start tensing up and told himself not to. The more he tensed up, the more it would hurt, the more bones he was prepping for fractures.

He knew Scharch was a merciless killer, he lived for the blood. If Tora was fucked up in the head, Scharch was plain out gone. Claude had it out for him, and the other two… Would listen to Balthuman to save their skins.

“Fifteen minutes. No killing hits to the head. But besides that, whatever you can get, goes.”

“Sir. You do understand that no one has ever beaten Tora, correct? If he fights back…” I don’t want to get killed…

“You hit harder.”

“Fuckin’ get your pussy ass self ready, motherfucker,” Scharch growled as he tossed his jacket off to the side. “I’ve been meaning to beat your smug, pretty face in.”

Tora said nothing.

“And if he dies?” The men glanced over at Claire who had finally turned to see them.

“Tora will just have to fight harder,” Vincent answered as he stared right back at Tora. “He has a wedding to attend to. Don’t you Tora?”

With a wave of his hands as signal, Tora felt Scharch throw the first punch to his face.

..

..

_Never seen Tora go at it before? He’s a goddamn beast._

_Of course I have. But that boy’s violence and brutality is always shocking to watch…_

Someone got him on the shoulder, and fuck. It hurt like a mother—

He gasped when someone got him across the back of his legs, knocking him to his knees. He spat out the blood—Fuck, was that a tooth? —when they punched him hard across the jaw.

“Ya motherfucker, not so tough now,” Scharch taunted and Tora was sure it was his foot that made contact with his rib, making him wince. He would not make a sound, he would not let them see any emotion, any pain. He needed to do this, for himself, for Poppy.

For their babies.

 _Imagine a home, where the both of you can live away from all of this,_ he told himself as he felt someone hit him across his face again.

He coughed when he felt a kick to the chest. Fuck! He vision was blurry. How long had it been? Ten minutes? Was it over?

Scharch was going all out. Claude, the fucker, probably was the one who kept kicking him across the face.

“An eye for an eye…”

Ah. Yes. It was him.

The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and he spat out another glob of it onto the office floor. He couldn’t see anymore, his ears were ringing, and his vision was blurry as well from the blood pouring down his forehead. It was getting harder to breathe; his ribs were probably broken somewhere.

His legs felt like one whole burning unit and he couldn’t tell what hurt specifically since everywhere was getting kicked, punched, or stepped on.

_His ‘distance’ is only temporary. He’ll have to return from this little **vacation** , eventually._

_Any dog that goes against the orders of its owners, will be shot…_

Tora thanked his lucky stars that Vince hadn’t chosen to go that way. He said he wasn’t playing favorites, but for once, he was glad that he had chosen to live to kill for him…

_And the dog knows it…_

It was getting hard to breathe though. Fuck, fuck… His sides were hurting. He couldn’t feel his jaw anymore either.

“Are you wanting to get out for a woman, Tora? I thought you were fuckin’ gay?”

“Apparently, not. Have you seen that hot little piece of ass?”

Tora growled. They were talking about Poppy. His beautiful Poppy.

“If she likes this psycho fucker, she must like it rough.”

“I’ma enjoy getting a taste of that pussy…”

Tora had enough. Fuck if he would let these assholes touch _his_ Poppy.

He swung out, reaching and grabbing Claude by the collar of his shirt and brought his fist to his face.

“FUCKER!” Claude groaned. “I think my nowse is bwoken!”

“Ah, there he is,” Vincent replied as he watched Tora sit up and throw another punch at Claude’s midsection knocking him over backwards. He spat out some blood and wiped at the blood on his forehead so he could see. Vince waved at the other two men to back off slightly and leave it to Claude and Scharch.

“What? Ya pissed?” Scharch taunted as he grabbed Tora’s hair and hit him on the nose, making blood gush out. “Are ya angry ‘cause I’ma get at her? I saw her last time, tight little body, I bet she’s a screamer, too.”

Tora spat in Scharch’s face. “Fuck you, bitch. That’s my woman! I’m gonna have to be dead before ya put your motherfuckin’ hands on her!” Tora kicked out and got Scharch in the stomach, knocking out his wind for a moment.

Tora cursed. It was so hard to breathe, his ribs were definitely broken and his head hurt. He bet his other leg had some sort of fracture as well since he tried to stand up and could not. His jaw had some sort of fracture as well, but he groaned against the pain and dealt with it.

He was coming out of this alive.

For Poppy.

“Ya motherfuckin’ gay ass little piece of shit,” Tora heard Claude tell him and before he could react, he’d kicked him across the back again knocking his wind out. “That’s for my eyes!”

“Not so tough now, are ya?” Scharch said as he stood up again, kicking him across the face.

“Claude!” Vincent said loudly, and Tora heard Claire scream across the room, before he felt something hit him across the back of the head dropping him forward…

The last thing he saw before his vision went black was Poppy’s face when she’d told him she loved him…

.

.

**“Quincey! Have you spoken to Tora today?”**

“Uh, yes. This morning…”

“Quincey, please…”

“He was going to go see my dad.”

“What?” Quincey could hear the panic in Poppy’s voice. It was nine in the morning, an hour after Tora should’ve been at his dad’s house. His nerves were a wreck and he’d had to take a cab to Poppy’s apartment to see her.

“He was going to see my dad,” he took Poppy by her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “He’s going to ask to be out.”

“Out of…”

“The clan.”

“Oh god!” Poppy held tightly onto Quincey’s arms. “He’s going to get himself kill!” She paled and Quincey felt her legs give out, catching her by the waist and leading her towards the nearest couch. “I told him not to!”

“I told him not to as well! The idiot stole my car keys and I had to get a cab out here!” Quincey ran an angry, shaking hand through his blond hair. For the first time in a really long time, Poppy could see that he was stressed out, very stressed out, since he was wearing sweatpants, some type of hoodie, and his hair was all over the place. Gone were the dramatic earrings and suits.

“Poppy, I did try to tell him to stop, but he doesn’t listen. He’s so fucking stubborn when he makes up his mind about something.”

“It’s all my fault,” Poppy cried as she threw her hands up to her face. “It’s all my fault. Oh god, he’s going to die!”

Quincey watched the soft brunette sobbing and it broke his heart. How the heck had she gotten involved in this life?

“I need to go see your father!” she cried out suddenly. Quincey watched her tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes. “I have to go see him!”

“Poppy, I don’t think that’s the wisest decision…”

“Quinceton Balthuman, you take me to see you father, or so god help me, I’m gonna punch you in the face so hard you’ll need more than your beauty sleep!” Poppy threatened him with a step closer than had Quincey raising his arms up to stop her.

For a moment, he saw Tora in her. Saw that same fire his brother had in him…

And goddamn, she was beautiful when she was angry. No wonder Tora couldn’t stay away.

“Alright, alright! Jeez, calm down, woman!”

“Then stop waiting around.” Poppy walked back to her room to slip into some jeans and grab one of Tora’s hoodies. She grabbed her bag and walked back out, slipping on some shoes as she went. “I’m ready.”

“Alright, alright. But just know that it might not be a pretty sight.” He might be dead. Chances are he might be dead, Quincey thought to himself, but didn’t say it out loud. He didn’t want to make promises and he didn’t want to bring her hopes down.

“I don’t care. I’m going.” Poppy replied firmly as she followed the blond out the apartment and down to her car. The same damn car that Tora had recently bought her.

..

..

“Did they say he’ll be okay?”

“Fucking hell, Vincent!” Claire said angrily as she smacked her husband on the shoulder. “This is all your fault!”

“How the fuck is it my fault?”

“He was just a child. You messed him all up. All he wanted was someone to love!”

Vincent watched his wife cover her face with her hands as she cried into Shing’s shoulder. The other man simply patted her on the shoulder, but said nothing. Less contact the better, this was the Missus they were talking about.

“He’ll be fine.” Vincent said as he shot back a drink.

“You’ve killed my boy,” Claire said and shot him an angry look. “Quincey will never forgive you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAAHA;OGJW;OGVOSNB;OEOER!!  
> SORRY IT'S TAKEN SO LONG TO POST. BEEN TRYING TO STAY ALIVE.
> 
> Also, have some assignments coming up, and might be sent to another location to help. :C  
> So that might interfere with the next update.  
> I think this was one of the hardest chapters to write for me, but it was necessary.  
> Thank you for the comments and posts.
> 
> If ya'll are interested, hit me up on TAPAS, - Nurse Amethyst, I've got some other works there.  
> "The Thin Line Between Hate and Love" and "Soul On Fire".
> 
> Thanks!


	12. Beautifully Chaotic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have you ever seen a pissed off Poppy? Well now you have.  
> Poppy struggles with the hard reality that Tora went to the Balthumans to GET OUT of the clan.  
> But what comes with getting out? An easy ride to death with a scant look at a free life...  
> ..............................  
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO LILYDUSK, ON WEBTOONS, FOR HER WEBCOMIC "MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND."  
> ALL CHARACTERS AND MAJOR PLOT IDEA AS HERS, WITH A LITTLE TWIST OF MY OWN.  
> FIND HER ON PATREON AS WELL, GUYS! :D   
> FOR SURPRISES AND GOODIES.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “another know it all”- Chevelle  
> “Straight Jacket Fashion”- Chevelle  
> "Lacrymosa"- Evanescence  
> “sweet Sacrifice”- Evanescence  
> "Farther Away"- Evanescence

**…**

_**Quincey** _ended up driving them to the Balthuman house since Poppy appeared to be stuck between a cycle of broken sobs and angry rants. She’d tried calling Tora’s phone only to get sent to voicemail, and left him a couple of angry ones already.

They pulled up to the wide gated entrance of his childhood home and the men at the gate stopped at stared at the car—a midnight blue version of Tora’s red car. Quincey pulled down the tinted window on his side and stepped out before they shot them. The men raised their eyebrows at him—Master Quincey driving himself around, in a car similar to Tora’s? What happened to his own gold colored vehicle?

And why was he dressed in a similar fashion to Tora?

“Good morning, Master Quincey,” one of the men said as they opened the gates for him to drive through.

“Yeah, we definitely didn’t recognize you,” the other on the other side mentioned. Poppy glared at them from behind the tinted passenger side window.

“Yeah, well. Shit happens. Is my father home?”

“Yeah, he’s upstairs. He should be in his office. He had a short meeting earlier.”

“I bet. Alright. Thanks,” Quincey muttered and drove them up to the front steps. Poppy had already jumped out of the car even before he’d hit the brakes. Tora’s car was still parked in the front and she ran to it, to check inside, cursing loudly when she saw he wasn’t inside. Several men who stood guard by the front turned to the cursing brunette, remembering her as the girl who’d shown up with Tora some weeks before.

Poor girl, she was in for a shocking surprise…

She started marching up the steps, glaring at the men as if urging them to dare and stop her.

“Fuck! Poppy wait! Wait for me!” Quincey slammed the door and raced after her, following her into the wide entrance.

“Where is his office?” She asked as she stared wildly around the place, noticing the huge stairwell, the hallways leading to some arched doorways and what she could see of some living room area.

“Poppy, Poppy, you can’t just _barge_ in to his office. You’re going to get yourself killed!” Urged Quincey through gritted teeth. “Girl, these are not simple men. This my _father_ we’re talking about.”

Poppy stopped and turned to Quincey. “And this is my damn fiancé we’re talking about and your _friend_. Doesn’t that matter any to you?” She threw her hands up to her hair in frustration, ready to pull it all out in anger. She was about to start throwing things.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Tora’s hot little piece of ass.”

Quincey and Poppy turned to the top of the stairs where Scharch was standing next to two other men. Quincey knew that they were Tora’s men, but why were their own shirts covered in splatters of blood? He could understand Scharch, but Tora’s own men.

His father was a bastard. It made him sick to his stomach that Vince would call on Tora’s own men to do this job…

“I’m not his little piece of anything. I’m his fiancée.” Poppy yelled back as she took a step onto the stairs. Scharch chuckled darkly, and didn’t make much of her threatening demeanor. She was such a tiny thing and it amused him that tall, dark Tora would fall for something so… _cute_. The man really was a softy after all.

“Yeah, yeah. I see that you _are_ a screamer, too. I was right.” He puffed on his cigarette as if it was nothing.

Quincey scowled at that and placed a protective hand on Poppy’s shoulder. The other two men noticed the look on Quincey’s face and the visible tick on his forehead. Scharch, being the loudmouth that he was, laughed.

“Quincey boy! Are you her defender, too? Well, what do you know? I figured you to be _defended_ , not vice versa.”

“You don’t know shit.” Quincey growled as he started up the stairs holding on to Poppy’s hand tightly. He stopped before Scharch and glared at him head on, so close that their noses were almost touching. “You best keep your idiot mouth shut, Scharch. Don’t forget your place. I am, after all, master of this house as well. I _own_ you. Imagine if it just so happened to _slip_ out that you’re disrespecting me…”

Poppy, momentarily stunned that sweet, caring Quincey had suddenly turned into a blond version of Tora, just stood beside him staring with wide eyes.

“What? Are you going to run to daddy and tattle on me?” Scharch scoffed. “Step back, you’re not my type.”

“There is no need for him to tattle, Scharch.”

They all turned to face Vince who stood by his office doorway.

“Step away from him, Quinceton.” Vince waved his hand and turned to the door again. “Don’t soil yourself with the dogs.”

Quincey smirked back at Scharch who was glaring at him as if he wanted to tear him apart, which he probably did. “You heard my _daddy_ ,” Quincey said with a sneer, mouthing _dog,_ before he dragged Poppy towards the office.

.

 **Poppy’s** heart was pounding when she stepped into the wide room. She gagged immediately at the strong metallic smell that lingered in the air and almost vomited at the brilliantly dark spot in the middle of the room…

Oh god. Oh god, no…

“Good morning, Poppylan. What brings you here this bright and early?”

Poppy tore her gaze from the sight before her to look at Vince as he stood by his desk.

“You know why I’m here, Sir.” Quincey had let go of her hand and was now standing tall and somber beside her. He was looking as pale as she felt and probably did look. “Where is Tora?”

“I don’t know. I don’t follow up on hospital visits after my men leave this office.”

Hospital? Tora was in a _hospital_? They’d _sent_ Tora to a freaking hospital!? Just how badly hurt was he?

“What did you do to him?” she whispered, feeling her hands clench.

“ _He_ didn’t do anything, _we_ did,” Scharch commented as he stepped into the room, followed by the other two men she’d seen outside. “He’s probably dead, or alive, who knows? Fucking evil, never dies.”

Poppy ignored Scharch. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him get to her head.

“This is not your damn business, Scharch.” Quincey told him and went past Poppy to pour himself a glass of whatever Vince had on his desk. His father raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing.

“She was asking, I gave her an answer.”

“What _did_ you do to him?” Poppy asked Scharch who gave her a smile. He went over to her, making her skin crawl as he circled her, checking her out with blatant interest.

“I got to put my knuckles in his damn face, that’s what. Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do that? A really long time. Four against one, it’s usually a piece of cake for him, but he didn’t do shit.” Scharch explained gleefully. He ran a finger across Poppy’s shoulders, enjoying the way that she flinched and continued to watch him through burning eyes.

She was brave, he’d give her that, and quite pretty. No wonder Tora had lost his goddamn mind and wanted to leave. She was wearing one of Tora’s hoodies, but even then, under all the extra layers, he could still tell that she was rather curvy. Short and curvy, just how Tora preferred them.

“He wasn’t too happy when I told him that I wanted a taste of you.” Quincey threw the glass in his hand to the floor and stomped over to Scharch, his hand already on the collar of his suit jacket when Vince called him.

“Quinceton, let go of him.”

“Are ya fuckin’ kidding me?!” Quincey asked as he looked at this father who was looking rather bored.

“No. Now, let him go. Step back, good boy. And drop it with the speech.”

Quincey glared at Scharch who stood behind Poppy now. He smirked at Quincey, never taking his eyes off his, as he leaned down and made an exaggerated show of smelling Poppy’s hair. She stood still, lips trembling, but Quincey saw her clenched fists.

“Did Tora asked to be out?”

“Yes.” Vince glanced over at Poppy. He felt bad for her, so young, and so in love. He didn’t know where Shing had driven Tora to, just that he didn’t look too good when he’d been admitted. Fucking Claude had to go and hit across the head after he’d specifically told them not to. Obedience was a big deal to Balthuman, and any dog who disobeys, get punished…

Claude had disobeyed.

“Was… was he alive?”

“I think so.”

“You think so?” Poppy squeaked, an appalled look on her face. “ _You don’t know_?”

“He didn’t look so good, sweet cheeks,” Scharch commented as he trailed a finger down her arm. She smacked his hand away and took a step back. He squinted his eyes at her. “That blood on the floor is his. Can’t you just smell that sweet aroma of death in here?” He taunted and closed his eyes as he inhaled.

He didn’t see Poppy’s fist coming at him until he felt it—and heard it—with a loud crack against his jaw.

“Yoo fuckging hit me!” he growled at her, eyes flashing angrily at her. He grabbed her by the hair and raised his other ready to slap her, but Vince stopped him.

“Scharch, drop your hands off her. NOW.”

Scharch growled, eyes burning into hers, hand clenching in her hair hard, making her wince, before he let her go.

“I theenk ma jaw’s brukin!” he hissed as he held his jaw. What the hell kind of girlfriend had Tora gotten himself? She was just as vicious as he was, and fuck it if he would take some punches just for a piece of ass. She looked ready to punch him again, her eyebrows furrowed, face bright and angry.

“Hmm, did Tora teach you that?” Vince asked with a slightly amused grin. Poppy was back to clenching her hands at her side, except he noticed the trembling of the one she’d hit Scharch with.

“No. My father taught me that. For self-defense.”

“Punching bags?”

“Boxing.” Poppy said with a raised eyebrow at Scharch who was openly glaring at her. The other two men behind them were chuckling lowly, discreetly snapping shots of Scharch with his quickly bruising face, the other recording proof. Tora’s short, tiny, cute and soft looking woman had broken Scharch’s face.

Ha.

“Do you need anything else, Poppy?” Vince asked her and she swallowed hard. She was visibly shaking now and he could tell she wanted to cry. But the girl was tough, and she was doing everything to hide her emotions.

“Is he _free_ now…?” she whispered because she had to know. She knew he wouldn’t have died. He just couldn’t have! He had promised her that it would work out, and she would follow him to hell and back to make him marry her like he’d promised.

“Yes. For the most part.”

Poppy sighed in relief, but pressed a hand against her stomach as she tried to calm her nerves. Vincent mistook it as… was she _pregnant_?

“Meaning?”

“He needs to come back and tell me what he wants. We started the conversation, but the men were getting angsty, so it got cut short.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know!?” Poppy asked loudly, making him glance over at her. Yet, he said nothing. The men in the room watched in horror and awe as the woman screamed at their boss. They were even more surprised that he didn’t seem to care.

“My financial advisor took him to the hospital. I don’t know anything else. But as freedom goes, Tora knew what he was getting himself into, Poppy. No need to be upset at me, it was his decision. I did try to sway him to not do it, but he never listens. He may return and speak to me after he gets out, and we’ll talk about it.”

“I will never let you, or this go, if something happens to him,” Poppy hissed in a low tone, and the men looked at each other. Was that a threat? That sounded like a threat. Quincey was back to holding his hands at his head, hair all over the place. What was she talking about?

She was going to get herself killed!

“The only thing stopping me from letting Scharch loose on you is the fact that I respect your father, Poppy. Let’s not taint that relationship with easy words. Like I said, I don’t know where Tora is, Shing has left on some business travel, and he’s the only one to know. If Tora comes back, he can come and speak with me.” Vince said as he took another drink from his glass.

“ _When_ he comes back.” Poppy corrected him. He had to, he just _had_ to be alive.

“Fine. When he comes back.”

Poppy turned and started walking towards the exit.

“ _IF_ he comes back!” Scharch taunted. “He dwidnt look so good. All thish blood is hish.” He laughed as best as he could while holding his cheek.

Poppy snapped. She was pissed. She was just tired of it. She didn’t know what came over her, but before she realized what she was doing, she had tackled Scharch and knocked him over. Poppy sat on him, reaching back and punching whatever part of his face that she could reach.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” she screamed at him, tears running down her face. “You don’t fucking know shit!”

“Poppy!” Quincey groaned and tried to pulled her off Scharch, but she simply smacked his hand away.

“Can you guys please get Miss Poppylan off of Scharch?” Vincent said in a bored tone and went to take a seat behind his desk. “I don’t need two dead men.”

Tora’s men each took hold of one arm and lifted her off of Scharch who sat up groggily, before spitting out a glob of blood and what looked like some teeth onto the floor. “You fuckging beech!”

“Let me go!” she screamed, catching one of the other men in the face. They dropped her arms, and Quincey took over, grabbing her in a tight hug and whispering at her to calm the fuck down before she really did get Vince angry.

“Please, do go home Poppy. I don’t need you here beating up my men.” He looked over at Scharch who looked murderous. Quincey saw the way he was looking at her.

“Hey, you!” He held tightly on to Poppy’s arm, keeping her in place, glad he had about a foot on her. “You are not to seek out, contact, or even look at her. Don’t send her any messages, and if I hear you tried to reach her in any sort of way, you’re going to fucking regret it. If something were to happen to her, you bet your ass that I’m coming for you first. Stay away from her, she’s off limits. That’s a fucking order.” The men in the room stared at Scharch who spit out more blood.

“You’re not my boss.”

“You heard the man,” Vincent replied and Scharch glanced back at him. “Poppy is off limits in any sort of way.” He was casually looking through some paperwork.

Quincey dragged Poppy out the room, the men all staring at the mousey girl who had nothing mousey about her.

When they were out of earshot, Vincent turned his attention to Scharch, who was sitting on the floor holding his side and his face.

“Hey, Scharch.”

He simply grunted back a response.

“Just so you know, Quinceton is still my son. If he says something goes, it goes. Don’t underestimate the power of his word against yours. And if you so much as threaten him ever again, I’ll personally see that you find a cozy spot in a ditch somewhere.”

Scharch stood up and walked out the door, the other men following behind him.

.

.

“ **Poppy**! That was brilliant!”

Poppy climbed into the passenger side of the car as Quincey climbed in on the other side.

“Yeah?”

“A little suicidal, but brilliant, my love! Fucking Scharch didn’t know what hit him!”

“You were pretty damn awesome, too, Quincey!” And scary, because for a moment there, when he’d gone all _Master Quincey_ on Scharch, she could’ve sworn it was a second Vincent.

“What do we do now?” Quincey asked as he drove them out through the gates.

“C-can we make a quick stop somewhere before we go home?”

“Sure, anything for you. You better remember this, Poppy. Me driving you around because I don’t do the driving for anyone. Enjoy it.” Quincey pulled on to the highway.

“Can we stop by a hospital?”

Quincey frowned and looked at her sadly. “Poppy we don’t know where—”

“No. Not for Tora… For me.”

“What do you mean?” Quincey frowned.

“I-I think I b-broke my hand… When I punched that idiot.” She lifted her hand with her other to show Quincey and he finally saw how swollen and purple her knuckles were.

Quincey shook his head and took the next exit to the nearest emergency room where they knew who he was and would assist her promptly. A few x-rays later revealed that she did, in fact, have several small fractures on her knuckles and a dislocated thumb. There was a hairline fracture on her wrist as well.

She sat there quietly as they casted her hand with Quincey looking on.

“You, my dear, have taken this city by storm. I gotta admit, even I thought that was freaking crazy, scary, and _hot_ all at once. Holy cow!” Quincey commented as he ran a nervous hand down his face. “But please, let’s not do that again. I can’t stand the sight of blood.”

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.”

“Yeah, really.”

“Can you drop me off somewhere else, and not my apartment?”

“Erdene’s?”

“No. You know little Alice?”

“Old Alice? Of course. Why do you wanna go there?”

“I don’t think I can be in my apartment all alone tonight.” Poppy confessed with a watery smile. Her heart was breaking more and more as each second ticked by. The weight of her unshed tears was giving her a headache.

“You can sleep in Tora’s old room if you want,” Quincey offered.

“I think I need a woman’s presence and advise tonight.”

“Well, you know me—”

“I love you, too, buddy. But please.”

“Alright, alright.”

**Alice** was outside the restaurant playing cards with a young boy when they pulled up to her place.

Poppy realized it was Ben, the boy that she’d taken to Quincey’s apartment some time back after he’d gotten attacked at a club. They stood up when the car pulled up, Ben going to stand before the older woman as if to protect her.

“Oi! Alice!” Quincey said loudly and cheerfully as he stepped out of the car, going around to pull the tiny woman into a hug. She swatted at him with her fan.

“Put me down, boy! I’m not some sack o’ potatoes!” she admonished, but Poppy could tell she was pleased to see him. Quincey set her on her feet and grinned at her. “What have ya been up to? Ya look like crap.”

“You should see Poppy, she looks worse.” Quincey said, as he pointed at the car. “Hi, Ben. How are you?”

“I’m good. Miss Poppy? The woman who brought me to your apartment that one time?”

“Yeah, that one. Oh! Wait, give me a second. She might need some help.” Quincey went over to pull the car door open for her and stretched his hand out to Poppy, helping her out of the car.

“Ah, Poppy! I haven’t seen ya since the last time Tora brought ya for dinner!” Alice said as the younger woman came over to greet her.

“He brought you here?” Quincey asked and was surprised, because this was kind of his… safe place. “When was that?”

“Uh, I think about a week or two after we’d met?”

“Damn. What did you do for him to like you that quickly?”

“He took a picture of my breasts… It’s not funny. You know what the whole deal was! It was a mistake!” she grumbled and hugged her hand to her chest. Alice finally noticed the cast and frowned.

“What happened?”

“I… punched someone in the face.” Poppy replied and her face dropped sadly.

“She punched Scharch in the face and broke his jaw, that’s what.” Quincey said.

“Why? Where’s Tora?” Ben asked with a frown. Tora had become his mentor, had taken him to Alice’s and gotten him this job. He owed it to Tora to not be in the streets anymore. Him and Mr. Quincey.

Poppy’s lips trembled and before they knew it, she had started sobbing on Quincey’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Alice asked, her wrinkled forehead furrowed deeper in concern.

“He went to talk to my father,” Quincey started and Poppy started crying even louder. “He got out, Alice.”

“You mean…?” Alice sighed, her old heart pounding hard at the words. She thought about her son, Joe, and what he would’ve said about this.

“Out. Of the clan. He got his… parting gift. Now we don’t know where he is, or if he’s okay. My dad said he didn’t know where Shing had taken him after they were done.”

“But that doesn’t explain her hand,” Ben pointed out.

“Scharch was being a dick to her. She got pissed off, snapped, and beat the crap out of him. You should’ve seen it, Alice! It was beautiful!” Quincey explained as he patted Poppy on the shoulder.

“So what happens now?”

“We wait. We wait to see if we hear anything.”

“Ahh.” Alice was worried. She knew what kind of shit those clan men were up to and what happened to those who decided to leave. “But why would he leave?”

“Because the fool decided to listen to my dad, who said he didn’t want Tora to marry me unless I was going to be safe!” Poppy cried angrily. “I told him it didn’t matter.”

“Ahh… Tora met Robert?”

“I… what? You know my father, too?” Poppy rubbed her face with her good hand. “Why am I the only one who didn’t know about my parents knowing the Balthumans? That my crazy mother had pretty much arranged for me to marry Tora!?” They watched as Poppy squatted low, hugging herself. “Next thing they’ll be telling me next is that my father was an assassin, and I’m siblings with Tora! I would kill myself.” She groaned.

“Mary? You’re Mary’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“Now, now, don’t be so dramatic, girl. Tora was almost the exact copy of his father. And Robert was never more than a Balthuman financial advisor. Tora will come around, you’ll see.” Alice shuffled everyone off the sidewalk and started pushing them indoors. “Come on, come on. All this stress is making me hungry.” She eyed the pale girl whose un-casted hand laid over her stomach.

Alice frowned. Nah. She couldn’t possibly be… Could she? She knew that Tora wouldn’t be stupid enough to … But then again, he didn’t seem able to keep his hands off the girl.

But if she was, she wouldn’t have risked it going head on with Scharch. Getting into a physical altercation with the man. These two kids—Poppy and Tora—were both so damn stubborn, they were perfectly made for each other.

“Ayy…” All three younger folks turned to look at Alice. “What? Got monkeys on my face?”

“No.” They chorused and set about pulling things off the counters and fixing a table. She told Poppy to go upstairs and take a break, that she’d call her when food was ready.

She ended up in the same room from that first time she’d been here with Tora, finally noticing that there was another door that led to a small room with a bed and the sort. Was this where Tora would come and sleep? He had said it was his usual spot?

Poppy started crying and before long, she had fallen asleep.

_Later_ that night after everyone had gone home, Poppy stayed behind with Alice. The older woman tried to move her to another room, a bigger one, but Poppy wouldn’t budge.

Finally, as she laid under the covers, only in her underwear and Tora’s oversized hoodie, she cried because she couldn’t bear to think that something bad, something really bad had happened to him. She refused to acknowledge the possibility that he could very well be dead in a ditch somewhere, or dying in a hospital. He was strong, he was the Tiger of Ares street. He had to okay. He _had_ to.

“Knock knock.”

Poppy lifted her head to look towards the doorway where Alice was poking her head through.

“Hullo, Alice.”

“Still cryin’?”

“Can’t help it.”

“You’re gonna get sick. Worry can do that to ya.” Alice explained as she set a tray with fresh tea and some snacks for Poppy—she’d noticed that she had barely eaten during dinner. “Come on, sit up. You’re going to eat something before ya go sleep.”

“I’m not hungry, Alice.” Poppy laid back down and stared at the wall.

“Nonsense.” Alice saw how pale the younger woman was, too damn pale. “It’s not good for ya to not eat anything. Especially if…” she trailed off and hoped she wasn’t right about her assumption.

Poppy lifted her head again and turned to the older woman. “Especially if… if what?”

“Poppy, are ya pregnant?”

Poppy blinked, eyes wide, before she blushed brightly.

“Alice!”

“It’s a simple yes or no question, girl!”

“Of course, not!” Poppy answered as she pulled the sheets up to her chin. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you’re sleepin’ with a man, and obviously these things happen. Ya look pale, sick, and tired. I just wanted to make sure.”

Poppy wished the ground would open and swallow her whole. She was not going to have this conversation right now….

“I am not pregnant!” Poppy repeated.

“Alright. Well, ya still have to eat. And ya will eat because I’m not leaving this room until ya do.” Alice said firmly as she settled into a cushion on the floor. She pulled her vape out and took a puff of that. “Ya can have all the babies ya want after Tora comes back. Not right now.”

“I don’t think he would want _all_ the babies.” Poppy said as she sat up and picked up one of the small sushi rolls Alice had prepared for her. “We’ve never talked about it.”

“Of course he wants all the babies. He’s good with kids. They like him. He’s a kid magnet, haven’t ya noticed before?”

Poppy thought for a moment, thinking back to a time when some toddler at a market had ran straight to him, crying for him to pick him up. His mother had look wary of Tora, but the baby had been all over him. He’d cried when Tora had handed him over to his mother, and Poppy had teased him about it later at home.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Well, then ya better keep healthy for when he comes back,” Alice said firmly, with a nod of her head.

“If he comes back.” Poppy said softly, feeling her eyes fill with tears.

“Ya know very well how stubborn that boy is. Now, stop cryin’. Eat some more. I’m not about to have ya get ill under my watch, no ma’am. Eat up, eat.” Alice told Poppy who laughed shortly, trying to be cheerful and positive, but with her tears sliding down her face either way.

She had never felt as hopeless as she did at that moment.

…


	13. Never Ending...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How much heart break can one heart take? How much anxiety before it messes with someones' health? We're getting closer to the end of this short fanfic, but not without a lot of confusing realizations.  
> ...............................................................................  
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO MISS LILYDUSK, FOR HER WORK ON WEBTOONS, "MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND". FOLLOW HER ON HER PATREON FOR GOODIES ;D  
> ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Farther Away”- Evanescence  
> “Again” – Flyleaf
> 
> “Tears Don’t Fall”- Bullet for My Valentine  
> “Zombie” – The Cranberries
> 
> “Caught a Lite Sneeze”- Tori Amos  
> “Hanging on”- Active Child

**.......................**

**Two** weeks.

It had been two weeks and Poppy hadn’t heard back about Tora. No calls, no messages, no random voicemails from him. Not even some random cat meme like the ones he’d send her to tease her about falling out of that damn tree...

Nothing.

Poppy had tried going to work to clear her mind and not mope around so much, but Quincey told her that she needed to rest, besides the fact that her hand was broken. He’d sent her home, told her to do some online shopping with Tora’s card, heck! Quincey even gave her his own credit card for her to spend money off of.

One, she wasn’t much of spender. Two, the things she seemed to be spending her money on these last few days was food, and not even healthy stuff, just plain out buckets of ice cream and microwaveable breakfast sandwiches. She’d go stay up late into the morning watching whatever sappy romance she could find on Netflix, crying her eyes out over Tora, and wishing that she could be like Erdene with her high metabolism because—fuck—she was starting to gain weight from all the damn ice cream.

Apparently, she did not have healthy coping mechanisms.

Mrs. Balthuman had reached out to her to see how she was doing, to which Poppy had snapped _‘how do you think I’m doing? Your husband might have killed my fiancé!’_ and started bawling into the phone—one because she was annoyed, stressed and tired, and two because she’d snapped at the other woman and there was a chance now _she_ was going to get killed as well. Except Claire hadn’t screamed or retorted back, she’d simply listened and tried to calm the younger woman down, urging her to keep faith and that she was trying to figure out where Shing had taken Tora to.

That had perked Poppy up, but only slightly. With a trembling voice, she asked, “Mrs. Balthuman… Did Tora look as bad as Scharch says he did? What are the chances that he won’t come back…?”

There was silence from the other end.

“Tora’s a strong man. He’s stubborn, determined, and knows what he wants… I’m not going to lie to you and say he looked fine, because he didn’t, but I don’t think it’s going to _kill_ him.” Claire sighed and rubbed her own temples. All this thing with Tora had kept her with almost 24-hour migraines, going on two weeks now. “He’s had worse, believe me, Poppy.”

“I just… I told him not to do it! I don’t know why he doesn’t listen to me!” Poppy exclaimed and started sobbing again.

Claire felt bad for the young woman. How many times had she cried about it herself, thinking that Vincent was going to get himself killed? Then Quincey was born, another worry added to the already heavy load on her chest. But Quincey had turned out… different. She was worried, but Vincent… hadn’t made the boy’s life entirely horrible, so that was one thing. Tora… had turned out to have a whole other story. 

Claire might have had her slip ups here and there, but she didn’t want to put the entire blame on herself. Vincent had never been a saint, but she knew he loved her as much as she loved him. Just sometimes… sometimes she wished her life had taken a different turn, that she could’ve had the strength to walk away as well. Tora wasn’t a womanizer—even if women threw themselves at him at every turn and chance they got—but Claire could see the way he felt about Poppy. 

It only made sense that even as a young boy of nine or ten, he’d already felt that attraction to the girl.

“He’ll be okay, Poppy. I know he’s strong. He loves you and that’s enough reason for him to return.”

“Oh, I hope so. I really hope so…” Poppy sniffed into the phone. 

Some days she felt more hopeless than others.

…

“Good morning, is young Master Balthuman available?”

Quincey frowned into the receiver. “Quincey?”

“Yes, please.”

“That’s me. May I ask who’s calling?” He stared at the screen where he had been reviewing some documents from Poppy’s list of assignments. He’d told her to take the week off again—and after arguing loudly for about an hour—she’d finally agreed.

“My name’s Marina, sir. I’m calling from XXXXX Hospital. I was told to… Contact you regarding chances in Mr. Nishioka’s health.” There was some rustling of papers in the background. Quincey jumped to his feet.

“ _Tora_ Nishioka?” He asked because he needed to make sure that they were talking about the right person. He didn’t want to get his hopes too high. Heart pounding, he waited for the response.

“Yes, Sir. Tora Nishioka _Balthuman_?”

“I…” What? Balthuman? What was going on? “Yes. Thank you for contacting me! Is he okay? What’s going on? We haven’t heard anything from him for two weeks!”

“Well, he’s… stable. But he’s actually… Well, doctor wanted me to tell you to come down and see him. It would benefit him a lot if you were able to come see him yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sorry, Sir. I’m only allowed to give as much information as the doctor gives me.”

“It’s alright. Thank you for letting me. I’ll be there as soon as possible!”

Quincey hung up and stared at his computer. Tora was still alive. Tora was still alive! Freaking hell! Poppy would be so happy! He needed to go see him right now! _That stubborn bastard_ , Quincey thought happily to himself as he gathered his stuff and ran out his office.

“Jacob! Tell Erdene she’s in charge for the rest of the day!” Quincey told Jacob who was copying some papers on the copy machine.

“She’s on a phone call right now, I’ll tell her as soon as she’s done.” Jacob saw Quincey’s excited face. “Hot date?”

“No. Tora’s alive!”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “Holy sh—cheesestick! That’s awesome! I’ll tell Erdene know!”

Quincey waved and ran out the door.

**…Somewhere in the city….**

“Come on, Poppy, ya need to eat.”

“But I don’t want anymore,” Poppy whined as she patted her belly and stared a ghastly at the plate of food that Alice had dropped in front of her. Alice gave her a look. “I already ate, Alice.”

“Ice cream is not food, girl. Ya need some substance. Drink ya soup. Be happy that I like ya and I don’t make ya pay.” Alice said firmly with a wave of the ladle in her hand.

“But Ali—”

“No buts. Now eat.”

“Tora’s not going to recognize me when he comes back. I’m starting to resemble a _ball_.” Poppy sighed as she picked up her spoon and started poking around the bowl of soup.

“And who’s fault is that?” Alice called back from the kitchen.

“Meh.” 

Poppy sighed and started taking small sips of her soup. It immediately made her tear up a little and sniff. This tasted just like her Momma would make it. Tasted like comfort, hugs, and… home. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had something this good and comforting. Pretty soon, she had moved on to crying.

“What are ya bawlin’ about now?” Alice asked with a frown when she came back from the kitchen and found the girl crying. She’d been overly emotional over the last week and Alice wasn’t sure if she was normally like this or if this was new.

“I-It reminds me of my m-mom,” Poppy sniffed and took another spoonful with her good hand. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at Alice. “It tastes like h-home!”

“Are ya on your period?” the older woman teased as she set a mug with tea in front of Poppy.

“Nooo,” Poppy cried.

“Then, are ya normally this emotional?” Alice took a seat across from her and dug into her own food. Poppy wiped at her tears with a napkin and lips trembling, looked back at the older woman.

“Noo. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t even think it’s about T-Tora anymore either.” She blew her nose into another napkin, only to start crying again. “I don’t know why I’m like this Alice! I’m getting fat and I’m so bloated, and I know I should stop eating all that ice cream, but I can’t help it! That’s the only thing that settles my stomach. I’ve been feeling so tired lately. I’m happy one moment and bawling my eyes out the next! Tora is not going to recognize me anymore!” 

Alice rolled her eyes and sighed when Poppy started bawling into her hands again.

“Ya sound pregnant to me,” Alice commented as she sipped her soup.

That made Poppy cry even harder.

Alice glanced back at the girl.

“But you’re not.” Poppy looked back at Alice with wide eyes. “Right?”

“I don’t kno-oow!” 

.

Poppy felt so stupid. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had her period. She was on birth control, taking the pill, but just that morning when she’d walked into the bathroom she’d found the little square carton and realized that she hadn’t taken two weeks’ worth of pills. She had broken down and cried for another half hour alone in the bathroom. The only thing that made her feel better was the fact that Tora wasn’t around to have sex with, otherwise she’d be really screwed.

She almost threw the little carton away when she realized that there were some extra pills in the lines… And then had proceeded to bawl her eyes out for another half hour because that meant that she hadn’t taken her pills the morning prior to when Tora had left her, and the morning of…In addition to the other two weeks before that because she’d been pissed off at Tora and stressed out about her dad. How many times in between had she been with Tora?

The one time in his car after brunch with the Balthumans and afterwards when they got home, the times after they’d made up… She’d not taken her stupid pills for about a month now.

She blamed it on stress and depression and all the junk she’d been eating in between.

“Well?” Alice asked and Poppy shook her head.

“I don’t think so, but there is a possibility I could be.” She proceeded to explain to Alice about why and how she’d forgotten to take about a month’s worth of her birth control. “I wasn’t thinking right. It’s been a rough couple weeks, Alice. I spent Christmas with you this year, and we haven’t heard anything about him yet. I’m going to die if New Year’s rolls around and he’s still nowhere to be found.”

“Girl, ya need to stop crying.” Alice snapped. She rubbed her temple with the hand that didn’t hold her spoon. What were these kids thinking nowadays? And Tora, she would kick his ass when he came back… If he came back. He better come back so she could strangle some sense into that boy.

_Tora was helping Alice bring some heavy wooden tables upstairs while Poppy was at work. His phone pinged and she watched him read whatever his message he’d gotten and smile._

_When was the last time she’d seen Tora smiling?_

_Ah, that time when he’d first brought Poppy here for dinner._

_The boy never smiled unless he really, really wanted to._

_“That Poppy?”_

_“Yeah. She sent me a picture of a cat. See?” He showed Alice the little cat meme and grinned._

_“Is that all it takes? Cats? Boy, you really love this girl.” Alice chuckled as she set about fixing items on the table. She glanced back at Tora and found him frowning. “What?”_

_“I… d-don’t.. I l-like her a l-lot.” He stuttered nervously and Alice knew the topic made him nervous._

_“What? Ya don’t think she loves ya?”_

_Tora blushed and looked away. It hurt to see how jaded he was, how unloved he had lived his life that the mere idea that someone might **feel** something for him set him on edge. He never let himself like anyone, kept mostly to himself, was always with Quincey so much people had started making obnoxious comments about him being **with** Quincey._

_“Hmm.”_

_“Just don’t get her pregnant, unless ya plan to make it official,” Alice pointed that out with a wave of her vape at him. “Unless ya want me after ya, beating the cad out of ya.”_

_“She’s not pregnant,” Tora answered with a scowl._

_“How do ya know? Ya protecting her? I hope so.” Alice went back to fixing the table. “Don’t be like your ol’ man who knocked up your Ma the first chance he had.” When he didn’t answer, she glanced up at him and found him running his hands through his hair looking scared as hell. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, Tora!”_

_“She’s not p-p-pregnant!” He repeated more to himself as assurance._

_Alice straightened up and turned to the brooding man. With hands on her hips, she shook her head at him._

_“Well, it’s been ten months and she doesn’t look pregnant, so I’ll take a wild guess and say you're safe, boy.”_

_Tora pulled his phone out again and Alice watched as he messaged someone. When he finally heard the ping of the incoming message, she watched him sigh in relief._

_“She’s not pregnant. She’s on birth control.” He read this out to Alice who rolled her eyes at him. “… Birth control… because ‘Tora can’t keep his hands off’. Hey!”_

_Alice went back to fixing her table. “Ya need to be more careful. Now put that phone away and help me bring that other table upstairs.”_

_“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a small smile as he went back downstairs._

_Alice really hoped this girl wouldn’t break his heart…_

Now, Alice stared right back at that same girl, thinking how heartbroken _she_ was, and not Tora. How had things suddenly gone so wrong? She remembered Mary, young and happy, just like Poppy was. She’d been a young thing when she’d come to the city with her brand new husband, Robert, who was older than her by a couple years.

She was always happy, always helping with the younger clan kids, the toddlers whose parents didn’t have time for them—the ones who didn’t have anyone to help care for them. They were too little to understand what was going on around them sometimes, and didn’t understand why they didn’t have parents like everyone else.

Then there was Tora.

Mary had immediately taking him under her wing, showering attention on the rough, shy dark boy who didn’t seem to like anyone but Quincey. She’d noticed the way that his eyes followed Poppy who was always with her, following her wherever she went. He was rough and mean with the boys, but with her… it was like a whole other child—sweet, caring, helpful. He would follow her around, listening to her whenever she asked him to help her, playing along when she needed a playdate. The boys teased him, but that didn’t last long, because he made sure that they did not.

Robert hadn’t been too happy with the attention his baby girl was getting from the rough older boy, and Alice remembered one time that Mary had stopped by with Claire to deliver some food for Alice so that she could pass it amongst the older boys that would sometimes show up there, Mary had mentioned that Robert wanted to move them away. That he didn’t think the environment was right for her baby.

The day that they moved away had changed Tora. He was no longer that caring boy, but it had been like a button had been switched leaving him permanently moody, angry, and cold.

Not even Joe could seem to reach him sometimes.

“Do ya want to have a baby with Tora though…?”

Poppy looked up at Alice, her face flushing beautifully pink and she dropped her gaze back to her hands on her lap. “Yes. Maybe not this early in our relationship, but I would love to have his children. If… it so happens that I am pregnant, then so be it. I’ll love it no matter what. But…” Poppy’s lips trembled slightly, “But if he doesn’t come back… Then I’ll definitely start praying that I _am_ pregnant. At least then, I’ll have something of his with me…”

“Well—”

“Poppy! Poppy!”

They both turned towards the doorway where Quincey came barreling through. His normally well combed hair was flying all over the place, his eyes wild.

“What? What’s wrong?” Poppy asked as she stood up and reached out for him.

“It’s Tora!”

“What!? What’s wrong? Did you find him?” Poppy asked, her heart pounding. She almost wanted to scream, she shouldn’t get her hopes too high. It couldn’t possibly be—

“Yes! A nurse called from the hospital. I guess she was told to contact me in case of any changes of his condition. I don’t know who ordered that, but they called me. I came here as fast as I could!” He took hold of Poppy’s good hand. “Poppy, he’s still alive!”

Alice stood up as well, going over to Poppy’s side. “Girl, I told ya he’d be fine. You’ve been worrying about nothin’.”

“Can we go now? Please, Quincey, I have to go see him!”

“Yeah, that’s what I came for.” Quincey turned to Alice. “Do you want to come with us?”

“With your driving?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Nah. I’ll wait for the news here. Unless I’m driving.”

“Alice!” Quincey scowled, holding a hand to his chest. “Horribly offended.”

“Bah.”

Poppy ran upstairs to grab her bag from the room nearly falling down the stairs on her way back down. She gave Alice a hug and left with Quincey in his golden car.

.

.

 **She** was a ball of stress and nerves.

“Calm down, Poppy, it’s okay. See? He’s still alive!” Quincey said from the driver side.

“I know! It’s just, oh god! I thought he was dead, Quincey! Dead! I haven’t been able to sleep in two weeks!” She threw her hands up to her face, nearly breaking her face with her casts in the process, but she didn’t care. Her Tora was alive!

“Believe me, love, I am just as excited as you to hear he’s alive! Jesus! I’ve been a wreck as well. I’m sure I’m driving everyone at work up the wall…Oh! And my father as well.” Quincey had made it a point to drop by his parents’ house every day to harass his father about Tora. It had gotten to the point where Vince had told his men to tell his son that he wasn’t home. Quincey had simply smiled at them, told them to open the damn gates if they wanted to keep their job, and that he was going inside to wait.

Family be damned. Sometimes, it was those to who you had no blood connection to that made up your family…

“I hope you didn’t get into trouble,” Poppy said with a look at her friend

“Girl, I’ve made it this long and my daddy has never said anything to me,” Quincey laughed. “I’m the Young Master Balthuman, after all.”

“Alright, Young Master, please hurry up and drive us to the hospital,” Poppy smiled.

**Growing** up accident-prone had resulted in many trips to the hospital for Poppy. So much that the staff already knew her and made it a game to guess what sort of shenanigan she had gotten herself into every time she came in. Her parents had bought her a helmet.

But now, she was here not for herself but for her Tora. The thought of not knowing how she’d find him made her stomach twist and clench in anxiety, in panic. They walked into the lobby and listened as Quincey spoke to the front desk clerk, telling her who they were here for.

“Oh! You’re Master Quincey?” the pretty blonde asked as she looked at him over her computer. The other clerks were eyeing him appreciatively and Poppy had to roll her eyes.

“Just Quincey, and yes. Can you tell us where he’s at?” He motioned for Poppy to come over. “His fiancée would really, really like to see him. She’s been out of her mind, anxiously waiting all this time.” Eyes were now on her, some wide, some obviously confused as to how someone as soft-looking and small as her could possibly be their dark and dangerous-looking patient’s fiancée.

Opposites do attract, apparently.

“Yes, definitely. Let me see, floor 3, room 310. So, take that elevator over there, and as soon as you hit third floor make an immediate right, all the way down the hallway. You might have to check in with the nurses there before you enter though.” The clerk explained and they nodded. Poppy thanked them, shooting them a warm smile, and then they all realized why the dark and dangerous patient had chosen her. Damn.

“I don’t know how I feel about all these hallways,” mentioned Quincey as they stepped out into the third floor and gazed both ways, taking the right hallway. “Hospitals always give me the heebie-jeebies.”

“You had that one doctor moved into the building with you,” pointed out Poppy as they came upon the nursing station. “Wouldn’t you be used to it?”

“Yeah, but that’s my house. I’m in my own habitat. These here…” he shivered dramatically, “bring back bad memories.”

“Aww.” Poppy said as she patted his shoulder. “Hello! Would you be able to tell us if we can go see the patient in Room 310? Tora Nishioka?”

The unit nurse glanced up at her. “Oh. Are you family?”

“I’m his fiancée, and this is Mr. Balthuman, his, err, boss.”

The other nurse who was charting on a computer glanced over at them. “Poppylan and Quincey? Yes, I have some orders to let you guys in there. Come on, I have a moment to take you inside, but you’re going to need some masks and gloves before you go in.”

Quincey and Poppy stared at each other. What was wrong with him that they needed that much precautions?

“The doctor should be done in there with his rounds. We might be able to see what his update is on Mr. Nishioka.” They followed the nurse down the hallway until they came to the last room where Tora was supposed to be. She handed them some yellow gowns, some gloves, and some masks, guiding them inside. “Now, it might be a little… shocking at first sight. But I’m glad you were able to make it. It’ll help him get better.”

What… Poppy felt her stomach clench. Was it really that bad?

She gasped.

The room was filled with the light coming through the window. He was the only patient in the room and everything was just so… blank. So liveless, so empty.

And in the hospital bed, attached to some IVs with machines beeping around him was Tora. A man whom she assumed was the doctor was reviewing some papers next to him. Poppy rushed over to his side, wanting to throw herself on him and hug him, but at the same time holding herself back because…. Because he looked so…

“So fragile…” she whispered as she teared up.

His beautiful face was a colorful mess of blues, greens, and purples as the bruises from whatever hits he’d taken to it were trying to fade. His right arm had an IV hooked to it and was running some kind of liquid into him from a pump. His other arm had a blood pressure cuff attached to it, his heart rate the calmest she’d ever seen it… So eery. She felt the first hot tear slide out as she took in his hair…which had been cut short around the bottom, the top slightly longer, but nothing like this dark hair that fell around his shoulders before.

“Oh, hi. Are you family?”

She turned to the doctor. “Well, I’m his fiancée.”

“Ah, Miss Poppy! Nice to see you were able to make it. I’m Doctor Al-Hadid.” He shook her hand and Quincey’s when he came over to stand next to Poppy.

“What is… how is he doing, doctor?” Quincey asked as he watched his friend on the bed.

“Well, he was pretty bruised up when he was brought it. He had a couple fractured ribs, I’m surprised he didn’t have any punctured lungs! He had a broken leg, collarbone, and fractured humerus… Oh, yeah and his jaw as well. But we had a few problems with internal bleeding and such. His kidneys were pretty banged up and… He’d taken a hit to the back of the head, had some mild bleeding as well. We had to induce coma to have him rest from all this trauma and allow the swelling to go down. I don’t know if he has a history of seizures or not, but he had a few when he got here. That’s another reason we had to induce the coma.”

Poppy had been listening intently while Dr. Al-Hadid spoke about Tora’s injuries. She couldn’t believe that he’d been hurt that bad by Scharch and the other men. How could they do something like that easily? She’d been so angry that she’d tackled Scharch and tried to beat his face in, partially succeeding until she’d gotten pulled off of him. But seeing Tora, laying in that bed unmoving and resembling his colorful tattoos… it broke her heart.

“I am so sorry, Tora,” she whispered as she went to hold his cold hand. “You didn’t have to do it for me! Why do you never listen! All I wanted was my…Tora…” She started sobbing into her mask.

Quincey and the doctor looked at her.

“Will she be, okay?”

“I hope so. She’s just had a rough couple of weeks.” Quincey pulled the doctor off to the side so he could talk to him. “Doctor, how long were you supposed to keep him in a coma?”

“Well, we were going for maybe a week and re-check his scans,” Dr. Al-Hadid started and glanced back at Poppy who continued to cry by Tora. “But your men really were out to get him, weren’t they? Whoever got him behind the head, he must’ve really had it out for him. I was surprised your father would allow that on… I thought Tora was his right-hand?”

Quincey looked at the man he’d known since he was a child, the same doctor that was trusted to seeing all the Balthuman clan men because he had been promised safety for silence. It wasn’t all completely ethical, but any person would choose safety over possible death.

“That person has been reprimanded,” Quincey assured as he thought back to Claude. “I was worried when your nurse called regarding changes. What _are_ those changes?”

The doctor sighed, “Well, we’ve tried to bring him back, but so far, it seems like his body is not responding so well. He keeps seizing, so we have him on medication for that as well. I have no definite date as to when he would be back to normal… if he does come back to normal.”

“So, you’re saying he won’t be fine?”

Both men turned to Poppy who had come over to them, and heard the comment about the coma being prolonged.

“Poppy…”

“No! I want to know, please doctor! I am tired of everyone leaving me in the dark about everything. I want to know, will Tora come out of the coma?”

The doctor glanced over at Quincey before looking at Poppy.

“We don’t know. He may, but there’s a very high chance that he… that he won’t.”

“Oh.”

“Poppy!”

Quincey reached out foe his friend as she swayed and dropped. She had passed out.

“Doctor, can we do something for her?”

“Let me see what I can do,” Al-Hadid helped Quincey place her into the empty bed as he checked her pulse and eyes. “Has she been eating? Her pulse is weak and her gums are pale. So are the inside of her eyelids. She may be anemic.”

“I made her go stay with one of our older friends during the night. She makes her eat because she doesn’t want to. Apparently, she hasn’t been feeling well, so I don’t think she’s been eating a lot.”

“Fair enough, let me get one of the nurses in here. I’ll talk to them and see if we can get some blood work on her before she leaves.” The doctor finally noticed the cast on Poppy. “What’s with the arm?”

“She beat up one of my father’s men.”

“Ah.”

“Quincey, I’m fine. Really.”

“You fainted, Poppy.” Quincey was a ball of nerves. He didn’t like hospitals, his friend was in a coma, and Poppy had fainted on him as well. “You scared me!”

“I’m sorry. I just don’t know why I have to get blood drawn,” she commented as one of the nurses checked her vitals and another came in for a couple of signatures. Soon, they stuck a needle into her arm and had drawn up four little tubes of blood. She’d turned away after the first, but looked back when the nurse had said she was fine.

“That’s it. You did well, Miss,” the nurse smiled at Poppy a she got the tubes and got ready to leave.

“How long will it be before we get results?” Quincey asked as she finished collecting some signatures from Poppy.

“About an hour on some. The doctor wanted it done urgently. Will you be staying here in the room with the patient?”

“Yes, we’ll be here. Thank you so much!”

“Alright, we’ll come back for you later then.”

“Thank you.”

**_Quincey_** stared at his friends—friends because that’s what they were to him, as well as _family—_ one who laid on the verge of death and one on the verge of breaking down. He’d seen enough of what went down in the clan to know they would never be completely happy unless Tora did what he had done.

But the brutal way that things have to be done…That’s what got to him. Everything was either say yes, or blood, gore, and death.

He’d known from the beginning that Tora was completely in love with the girl. Which surprised him a little because Tora never paid attention to women more than he had to. But the little brunette had taken his life by storm, and the weird part was, she didn’t even seem to notice at first. Quincey had seen the looks between them, the tension, the way that they keep poking at each other like children until one would snap, but… Tora always let it go in stride. The fact that Poppy was so open and friendly made Quincey happy for his friend because Tora didn’t need judgement, he knew what his past was like, he needed someone to love him and give him hope that the future would be alright.

“Poppy, it’ll be okay. You’ll see that he’ll come out of this and be back to his ornery self in no time,” Quincey tried to assure her, but Poppy simply sobbed harder. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything! What did he do to deserve this kind of life? He was just a child, Quincey! Even as young as I was, I remember him being bullied by the other boys because he was nice to me. For being _nice._ I know your father was the one that trained him, but he’s got him so messed up in the head sometimes I wonder if he truly believes I care for him. That I love him.”

“He doesn’t deserve this, Quincey. He’s the sweetest, kindest man I have ever met in my whole life. He understands me, he ignored all my awkwardness and just accepted me. I need him, I need him.” Poppy cried as she hung on to Tora’s side, she held on to his hand, her tears soaking it. “I need him, Quincey, especially now that I’m… Oh god!”

“That you’re what, Poppy?”

Quincey and Poppy turned to the doorway where Alice stood, Robert standing behind her. Poppy felt her face blush even hotter at the realization she almost said something stupid to Quincey with her father standing there in the doorway. Alice shuffled quickly over to stand on Tora’s other side, looking down at him with a sad expression.

“Oh, boy, you really know how to make an exit,” she said softly as she touched his hand. She took in all the colorful bruises, the tubes and machines attached to him. “They cut your hair, too. Oh, he’s gonna be angry when he wakes up.”

“What are you doing here?” Poppy asked as she stood up and stared at her father coolly.

"They called me and told me what had happened to Tora.” He eyed the young man on the bed and the way his daughter seemed to be standing as protection. “I figured you needed some help.”

“Who is _they_? And I don’t need help.” Poppy snapped. Her lips trembled again as she glanced at Tora. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough to help, Dad?”

“Claire and Vince, they contacted me. So did Alice.” He didn’t miss the way his daughter stared at him. there was no warmth in her eyes for him. “Poppy, surely you don’t think that I wanted _this_ for him? For you? All that I wanted was your safety, not to be worrying about what could possibly be happening to him all the time, every day.”

“Well, your words backfired, Dad!” Poppy snapped back at him. She cradled her casted hand to herself. “They all backfired. I’ve spent the last two weeks wondering where the hell he was, and if he would come back. I had already told myself that he was _dead_. He’s been through hell all his life, you probably know that better than I do! Now, I might not even get him back at all. You ended up getting what you wanted, Dad, because apparently, I’m never going to get the chance to marry him! And I’ll spend whatever time he has left wondering if today’s going to be the day that they call to tell me he’s died!” Poppy sobbed, throwing her hands to her face.

“Poppy…”

“Don’t touch me! Don’t come near me!” she warned him as she huddled closer to Tora’s bedside. “This would’ve never happened if you hadn’t told him everything you said last time. I can’t believe you are still in contact with the Balthumans! You judge me for being with Tora, but I’ve never been involved with the Balthumans unlike you!” She felt her legs give out, and she crumbled to the floor, still sobbing. Alice came around the bed to hold the girl, patting her on the head as Poppy threw her arms around her small body.

“I think it would be better if ya gave her some space, Robert.” Alice said and shook her head at him. He looked torn, torn between walking away and giving his daughter peace or going to her and apologize. Of course, Poppy wouldn’t be accepting any sort of apology right now.

“Is this a wrong time? I can come back later…”

They all stared at the doctor standing at the doorway. He had some files in his hand and glanced nervously at the group in the room. He saw the other man with glasses and frowned. He’d seen him before. Where had he seen him before?

“No, it’s okay, doctor.” Poppy let go of Alice and stood up. “Are those my results?”

“Yes, Miss Poppy. Uh, perhaps we could talk in my office? Or outside for a moment?”

“It’s fine, doctor. This is my very good…” She looked at Alice and smiled warmly. “She’s like my momma. And that’s my father.”

“Ah. Are you sure that you would want me to…? It’s kind of …”

“It’s fine.”

Dr. Al-Hadid shuffled nervously. He cleared his throat at looked at Poppy. “Well, everything looks fine with your blood work except for two things.”

They all looked at Poppy who paled slightly. “What’s wrong with me, doctor?”

“Well, depends on what you consider wrong…” He shot Robert a look before turning back to Poppy. “You’re slightly anemic—”

“Oh, that’s not a surprise,” Alice commented and shook her head.

“—and you’re pregnant.”

“WHAT!?”

All hell broke loose.

.

.

“AH! I'm going to be an uncle!!” that was from Quincey who had thrown his hands to his hair and was laughing excitedly or nervously, Poppy couldn’t tell. Alice looked shocked and slapped a hand to her face.

“Oh, lord help me! Another Tora,” she mumbled with a shake of her hand.

“YOU’RE WHAT!? Poppy you’re barely twenty-one!” Robert exclaimed and Poppy glared at him.

“I’m twenty-two! And I’m pregnant, Dad! It wasn’t the reason why we wanted to get married, but it’s a very pleasant surprise!” Poppy argued as she glared back at her father. She took Tora’s hand in hers. “I’m keeping it. There’s no other person with whom I would want to have children with, Dad. No one else.”

“Uh, Miss Poppy…” the doctor started as he stared at them wide-eyed. “Poppy…”

“Poppy, I can’t believe you got yourself pregnant!”

“Now, now, Robert! Mary wasn’t any much older than Poppy when she had her baby. Don’t be acting all sanctimonious!” Alice scowled at Robert, who flushed.

“We were married!”

“AFTER you had Poppy, not before! Now stop it.” Alice scoffed and stuck her nose in the air.

“Miss Poppy… Miss Poppy!” The doctor rushed over to her side excitedly, throwing her papers into the nearest table. She looked at him in confusion.

“What?”

“You’re… h-havin’ my… baby?” came the raspy, soft words in between wheezes.

Poppy’s scream could be heard throughout the hospital….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> afh;ofjoewjoigjoeije  
> this chapter has taken long to get out, but I've been busy.  
> Here is this one here, I don't think I have many chapters left for this fanfic.  
> But we're getting to the good parts ;D
> 
> Thank you all for reading and the kudos. Much love.  
> Stay safe, wash your hands! <3


	14. Ready or Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ready or not, here it comes!!!!!  
> Surprises everyone!!!  
> .........................  
> all characters belong to LILYDUSk, check her on PATREON for goodies. Follow MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND on WEbtoons!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "She Tastes Like Summer"- Spilt Milk Society  
> HUMAN- Rag ‘n’ Bone Man  
> INNOCENT MAN- Rag' n’ Bone Man  
> SKIN- Rag ‘n’ Bone Man  
> BE THE MAN- Rag ‘n’ Bone Man  
> GRACE- Rag ‘n’ Bone Man  
> AS YOU ARE- Rag ‘n’ Bone man 
> 
> You know what, just look up the Rag 'n' Bone Man album on Spotify xD it's all good!

**Poppy** screamed making Quincey and Alice jump in surprise. 

“You’re… pregnant?” Tora asked before he started coughing and groaned in pain. 

“Tora!” 

“Tora!” 

“Oh my god!” Poppy screamed as she threw herself to his side, trying really hard to hold herself back from squeezing the life out of him. He was all sorts of broken on the inside (literally) right now and in tons of pain probably. 

“Oh god…” Poppy started crying again, leaning into the mattress instead of on him. He groaned again as he tried to lift up his arm but found it attached to the IV and the pump. “Wha—Poppy?” 

“Yes?” she asked as she looked up into his face. He frowned, closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them up and staring at her again. 

“Why… are ya cryin’?” 

She laughed tearfully. “I thought you were dead!” 

“Why?” 

“I hadn’t heard from you in two weeks,” she explained, “We got the call about you today… and the doctor said you’ve been in a coma for two weeks!” Tora watched the tears roll down her face as she explained. She was pale. Was she sick? 

Oh, wait. He was sure someone said _pregnant_. 

His Bobby was pregnant. 

“Fuck death.” Tora blurted out and Poppy burst out laughing. Not even being half dead could keep him from having a foul mouth and a dark attitude. “Can’t keep…me from ya.” He groaned and tried to sit up, but the doctor came over and shook his head at him. 

“Don’t move too much, Tora. We have to run some tests on you,” Dr. Al-Hadid explained and Tora scowled. “You were having multiple seizures, and have some internal bleeding going on when you got here. That’s why we had to put you under.” 

Tora laid back down and stared, finally noticing the rest of the people in the room. Alice (who’s yellow gown covered all of her, pretty much), Quincey who was wiping his tears in the corner, and… Ugh. What was he doing here? He glared at Poppy’s father who stood by the foot of the bed looking as pale as his daughter and terrified. 

Tora squeezed Poppy’s hand and motioned for her to lean close to him. She did and he whispered as best as he could into her ear. “Why’s he here?” he asked slowly, probably because of his jaw hurting as well. 

She bit her lip, shot her dad a glance, and turned back to Tora. “Not sure. Probably just to scream at me.” Tora could tell that she wasn’t too happy about his presence, something must’ve happened between them. She shook her head before lifting her hands to his face. She caressed his cheek softly, taking in the bruises, his bruised jawline, the gauze wrapping peeking from behind his head. She continued to cry, tears silently falling down her cheeks. He didn’t say anything, just focused on her face, and realized how easy it was to read her emotions, her facial expressions always gave her away. The mask she had been wearing before had left red marks on her cheeks. 

She gave a short, tearful laugh. “They cut your hair by the way.” 

Tora sighed heavily. “I’ma look… like…kid.” Alice cackled loudly at that. He was referring to when he was younger, the style of hair he wore had been short, slightly longer on the top. By the time he hit eighteen, he had begun to let it grow. He’d hit some growth spurt by fifteen and the hair—he’d said—gave him a roughish appearance. 

“I think you look cute,” Poppy smiled as she touched the top of his forehead. She leaned down and kissed his head, before leaning down to whisper in his ear. “It makes you look a little roughish.” 

He flushed and stared back at her when she pulled back to stand by his side. Dr. Al-Hadid had returned with a nurse and another tech. 

“They’re going to prep him for some scans. We are… so glad you’re back, Tora. I’m sure your fiancée here is glad as well,” the doctor replied with a smile at the girl whose face had gone from depressed to practically beaming. 

“Fiancée …” Robert muttered causing Alice to elbow him, making him wince. 

“Shut up, Bob.” The tiny woman hissed under her breathe making him turn redder. 

They all moved out of the room to let the nurses work and soon they were wheeling him out to another room. Poppy followed the group out to the small unit waiting room, Poppy preferring to sit next to Quincey as far away as possible from her father. 

It was awkward, their strange ensemble of people—from the tiny woman shooting her father death glares, the tall blond freaking out in the corner, and herself, plump and short—sitting out there while they waited for their even stranger friend with the colorful tattoos. 

And Poppy didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. 

. 

**…a week later…**

“I know you hate this food, but you have to eat it Tora.” 

“Dog vomit,” Tora groused as he turned his head away so he didn’t have to look at the food that Poppy was trying to present him with. It was one week later after he’d finally come to and he absolutely hated it with his being, having to sit in that hospital bed and not being able to go anywhere besides therapy. 

And the food was the worst. Since he couldn’t really open his mouth to chew, he’d been put on pureed meals now and it pissed him off because it looked like something a dog would’ve chewed and spit right back out. 

Poppy sighed and took a seat in the chair next to his bed. “I know you hate it, but it’s better than nothing. You can’t survive off water and strawberry juice, you know.” 

“You eat it,” he muttered through gritted teeth as he stared out the window. 

“You’re acting like a child,” Poppy snapped at him as she opened up his jello for him to eat. 

“Good practice for _you_.” Tora glanced at her with raised eyebrows and she blushed. 

Poppy had avoided bringing up the subject of her pregnancy because she wasn’t sure she was ready to take it all in. She was pregnant, there was another human growing inside of her, and she’d also forgotten about it. Tora hadn’t mentioned it either until now. 

And not even in a good way. 

She sat back and thought about how the last time he’d thought she was pregnant he’d flipped out on her. She’d thought he looked just about to have a heart attack. Did that mean he wasn’t happy about it being real this time? The thought of him going into another fit because of it made her doubt herself. 

“Ya mad?” 

Not even having his jaw wrapped shut so he didn’t speak as much nor the pain kept Tora from being the sarcastic, rude, and slightly sassy. He was already a man of few words, but now whenever he spoke, he had to really think about what he wanted to say since he could only move his mouth so much. And it was usually blunt. 

Poppy glanced over at him with a scowl. 

“Why are you asking?” 

“Ya look like… wanna hit me with bat.” Tora frowned and hissed when he made a movement that had his jaw clenching. 

“Do I really?” Poppy had to grin at that. He didn’t say anything, just stared at her. “No, I’m not going to hit you with a bat. I’m thinking.” 

“Of?” 

She sighed and leaned back, letting herself rest on the chair. 

“You heard the doctor last week...” she started and glanced over at him. His face didn’t reveal anything, he still wore a blank look. “I was thinking about how much you freaked out last time that you _thought_ I was pregnant, and... I _am_ pregnant now...” 

“And?” 

She frowned. “What do you mean ‘ _and’_? Don’t you...I...” she stopped and looked away. She wasn’t supposed to be getting him mad, he was recuperating, but he just made her so confused. What did that even mean? She wasn’t going to do this today. She was tired, she was slightly nauseous, and what she really was to get home and go to bed. She stood and walked over to the other small table where she’d dropped her bag on. “I’m not doing this today.” 

“What? Where ya going?” She heard him wince and turned back to look at him. He was trying to sit up in bed, his face finally showing some emotion—slight panic and anger? 

“Tora, lay back down. You know your ribs are still messed up!” she urged and came over to him, trying to get to lay back down. 

“Nothing new!” he scoffed as he let himself be pushed back down. “I’m not an invalid! You are mad!” 

She stood up straight and hugged herself. “I’m just tired.” 

“Upset.” He sighed deeply and raised his casted hand to her, motioning for her to come closer. “Please.” 

She took his hand, momentarily surprised when he pulled her to his side, so she rested partially on his chest. He _oomphed_! at the impact against his ribs, but refused to let her go when she tried to pull back. 

“Tora, your ribs,” she tried to move back, but he wouldn’t budge. Finally, because she didn’t want to struggle and hurt him anymore than he already was, she relaxed against him. But still wouldn’t look at him. 

“Poppy,” he said and she tried to keep a straight face because it sounded more like _puppy,_ the wrap around his jaw making his words come out through gritted teeth mostly. “Lookit me.” She did, staring at his beautiful golden eyes, those eyes that she’d thought she would never get to see again. It made her want to cry... she started to get teary-eyed. “You okay?” 

She nodded. “Just tired.” She touched her palm to his cheek, enjoying the feel of his warm skin under her hand. She kissed his lips softly, barely brushing. “Mostly glad that I get to see you and have you still with me.” 

“No. Mean, you ok?” He lifted his eyebrows at her in question, hugging her tightly to him. “Baby, okay?” he asked with concern, and she blushed brightly, dropping her eyes down with a smile. 

“Oh. Yes, I... Have an appointment this week. It’s my first appointment.” She bit her lip nervously, “You’re not... upset? Last time you thought I was pregnant, you got really upset. I mean… the news of the baby literally brought you back from a coma,” she said with the straightest look on her face that Tora had to roll his eyes at her. 

He shook his head and grunted. He had the same confused look on his face as when she’d hugged him the first time. He pulled her close so he could rest his head on her chest. 

“No. Scared shitless. Confused.” He closed his eyes and let her rub his temples. He had a headache and he wondered if she had known that he did… was that why she was rubbing his temple? She’d gotten to know his moods so well, it scared him. It freaked him out initially, didn’t like the fact that she was able to tell something was wrong with him, but the more time he spent with her, the more he appreciated her being in tune with him. “I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” 

“I don’t think… ya not ready to be mom?” He looked up at her. She smiled warmly at him and shrugged. “What?” 

“I don’t think anyone is ever ready to become a parent. Even those that say that they’re ready, you know they were afraid at some point in their parenting life. I…wasn’t planning on being a mom so soon, but…” she leaned closer so she could rest her head on his shoulder. “Alice asked me if I was pregnant, because I wasn’t feeling so great, and I said no. But I messed up, Tora. Please don’t get angry with me. I forgot to take my birth control. The last couple times we were together, when we had brunch with the Balthumans and afterwards, when I was upset with you for ignoring me for two weeks…I went a good two weeks without it and it completely went over my head with everything that was going on.” 

“Hmm.” Tora nuzzled her face with his, kissing her cheek softly. “It’s okay. Was gonna happen, some point.” She nodded and could feel a hot tear slide down her face. He felt it slide past his own cheek and he raised his head to look at her. “What’s wrong?” 

“I thought you were dead, Tora. I was so scared and angry at you. You left me, and I was so angry because I thought you didn’t care about me. It was the worst two weeks of my life. I started feeling sick and Alice asked me if I was pregnant, then I realized what happened with my pills. I told her that if I was, then so be it, because at least I would have something from you. Something to remind me that perhaps you loved me.” She closed her eyes and felt his hand, the one attached to the IV, come up to touch her cheek and wipe her tear away. When she opened her eyes again, he was staring at her intently—his golden eyes were tired, sad, and sorry. “I had even come to the conclusion that you were dead, because no one knew where you were, just so that it didn’t hurt, to make myself feel better.” 

“I’m alive, Poppy.” 

“I know, Tora. It still hurts a little, here,” she touched her chest with her hand. “It almost feels… it feels surreal.” 

“I get it. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He held her hand in his, looking at her knuckles and realized there were some random scrapes and slight bruises on them. He frowned and squeezed her hand. 

“Wanna explain the cast?” He nodded towards her other hand with the heavy cast. She smiled sheepishly. “Poppy?” 

“Ipunchedyourclanfellow.” 

“What?” 

“I punched one of your clan fellows…” she said as she looked away. 

“You what!?” 

“Calm down, Tora! I wasn’t by myself. Quincey was there with me—” 

“He let you!?” 

“I made him take me to the Balthumans’. I needed to talk to Vincent and—” 

“What?!” 

“TORA! You’re going to pop something!” she said and tried to calm him down. His face was turning red and his eyes were staring at her like she was crazy. “If you keep gritting your teeth like that, you’re going to mess up your jaw again. Tora…” 

“How do you—punch who?” 

“That scary psycho who was after Mr. Lam… Scharch?” Poppy swallowed hard and took in the wide-eyed look on Tora’s face. If the wrap around his head had allowed it, his jaw would’ve dropped. If he had been able, he would’ve probably been cursing at the top of his voice, and if his legs were working probably, he would’ve already probably stomped away. 

“ _You punched Scharch?”_ he asked again because he didn’t quite believe she had actually been able to land one of that asshole. He was a jerk who got off on the pain of others. She didn’t look beat up, or otherwise hurt, except for her hand. 

“She beat him up actually,” they turned to the doorway where Quincey came strolling in casually holding a bag. He looked better than he had the previous weeks when his stress levels had reduced him to sweatpants and baggy hoodies. He was back to his neat dress pants and brand jackets, his hair neatly styled and gelled. “It was beautiful. You should’ve seen, honey. She went all… Mohamed Ali on Scharch’s ass. If I could just frame a picture of Poppy here punching his face in, I would. I wonder if I can get a copy of that video…” 

“There’s a video?” Tora asked and looked over at his blushing girlfriend, err, fiancée who was blushing redder than he had ever seen her. “Really? Why?” 

She crossed her arms and raised her nose in the air haughtily. “He was being a jerk. He got me so mad, he kept making dumb remarks and he mentioned how he told you he would get… a taste of me… and I snapped. I hated it. I really dislike that awful man!” Poppy huffed and nearly stomped her foot. 

“Wha di’ Vince say?” 

Quincey chuckled and smirked. “He looked pretty surprised. I mean, Poppy tackled Scharch! She tackled him to the floor and started beating the heck out of him! This little cute hamster over here—” 

“Has big balls.” Tora finished and Quincey paused. 

“Well… Yes! Your girlfriend is dangerous.” Quincey concluded with a grin as he threw his arm around Poppy. “Since you’re not going to be around anymore, can I borrow her? As my bodyguard?” 

Tora scowled and Poppy beamed. That was the nicest thing someone had ever said about her. She felt tough and… important. Growing up she’d had to deal with bullies but now… Now she knew that she could defend herself. She wasn’t afraid of that anymore. 

“She’s pregnant. She fought him like that?” Tora growled. His Poppy could’ve gotten killed by Scharch, could still get killed! That man lived for the kill! He was probably trying to figure out the worse possible way to make her suffer right now. Mild panic set in when he thought about something happening to her… or the baby. 

“I didn’t know I was pregnant, Tora!” 

“Did you really think I would let her fight like that!?” Quincey asked sounding offended. 

“She’s pregnant.” 

“Tora, I just found out I was pregnant last week. Did you really think I would put myself in that type of danger? I’m dumb sometimes, but not that much,” she finished with a pout. Tora grunted in response and Quincey clapped his hands happily. The couple looked at him. 

“That reminds me. Here ya’ go.” Poppy stared at the tiny bag that he shoved into her hands. “Go on, open it, love!” 

She placed the little bag on top of the bed as she dug into it. 

And pulled out a tiny onesie with a tiny tiger embroidered into one side. It came with tiny pants, and a tiny hat that had little ears. 

Poppy started bawling and threw herself at Quincey. 

“Wha—” 

“Thank you, thank you! Quincey this is the cutest thing ever!” she sobbed and looked at the onesie outfit again, laughing and crying at the same time. “It has ears! It has a tiny tiger! Tora!” She nearly shoved the hat into his face and even though he almost lost an eye through her excitement, he smiled at how excited she was. 

“I just _had_ to get it,” Quincey said as he huddled with her and pointed out things about it. “It was the last one, too. I had to fight a woman for it, and let me tell you, she wouldn’t budge. Until I told her my wife loved tigers and needed this one. That she’d kill me if I didn’t get this one. I think she felt sorry for me.” 

Poppy giggled and hugged the onesie to her chest. “Thank you, Quincey.” 

Tora smirked as he watched them talking about it, and then it hit him—they were both childhood friends, and now one was closer to becoming his wife. His heart clenched. He watched her grinning widely, giggling excitedly at something Quincey told her, eyes-widening as she probably imagined whatever he was telling her. 

Fuck it, if death was going to keep him away from Poppy. He would literally go to hell and back for her… 

. 

. 

**_“Hi, Tora!”_**

Tora who was sitting on the chair next to the window, turned to look at Poppy who came in to stand next to him. She leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, but he held her back with his hand. 

“Kiss me properly, woman.” 

She leaned down and kissed him on his lips, and she gasped when he grabbed the back of her head to hold her in place. He couldn’t really open his mouth, but just the small nibbles he took of her lips got her all out of breath. She held onto his arm and let him nibble her. 

“Tora!...” she giggled when she felt his hand inching down to grasp her bottom. 

“I wanna go home,” he murmured into her mouth. She pulled back and nodded at him. 

“I know. They’re just waiting to see if there’s going to be any after-effects from your seizures. If it was just a one-time thing or if they’ll continue.” She tried to soothe him, to calm him down because she knew being stuck in one place got him edgy. He wasn’t used to being stuck, being held in one place. Even when they were back home, he was always pulling them out and about, dragging her around the city and she’d actually gotten to know some really interesting places. 

She rubbed his shoulder, dragging her hands into his hair and enjoying the way he closed his eyes and seemed to visibly relax. 

“So, whatchu bring?” 

“Hmm?... Oh! Yeah.” 

She stepped back and put her hands behind her. With her capri pants, torn at the knees, and her striped, pink shirt she looked almost exactly like she had on that first time he’d laid eyes on her… She looked so young. Yet… 

“Ready?” she grinned. 

…so much older. All the things that she’d had to go through with him, all the things that she’d dealt with. The things she had seen and yet… 

“Ta-da!” She pulled out a tiny white square from behind her and held it with both hands to show him. “Little nugget!” she smiled. 

… and yet, she smiled. 

“Look,” she said and came over to him. “Look at that. Really just looks like a little nugget floating in there…” He looked at her face, her excited eyes that shone bright, as she pointed at the white and black ultrasound. 

He fucking loved this woman. 

He grinned as much as he could with his messed-up jaw and looked down at the picture. 

“That’s him. Or her. Who knows, but that’s the baby,” she pointed out excitedly at a little splotch on the paper. 

“It’s gonna be tiny like you,” he teased, and she smacked him playfully on the arm. “Not a nugget. A tiny hamster.” 

“Tora!” she complained, and he grinned at her. 

**They** were so engrossed in the ultrasound they didn’t see Robert poke his head in. He saw them, giggling to themselves as they looked at a picture in Poppy’s hands. Robert soon realized it was an ultrasound and his heart clench tightly. 

Her baby. 

His baby girl was having her own baby. 

Poppy leaned into Tora and rested her head on his, kissing the top of his head softly. Robert watched as the dark and gruff looking man reached up and placed his hand on her stomach, looking up at her with wonder. She leaned down at kissed him softly, hugging him around the neck as she continued to tenderly hold her belly. 

Robert swallowed the hard lump in his throat and sneaked back out of the room unnoticed. 

. 

. 

“ ** _Would_** ya look at that!” 

Alice came out of the kitchen to greet Tora as Quincey helped him through the doorway. Poppy trailed in behind them with Erdene. They were in Poppy’s apartment, and Alice had offered to cook Tora a Welcome Home meal. 

Five and a half weeks, five and a half long weeks total that he’d been in the hospital. Two unconscious and three long, dragging weeks that he had to endure conscious and wishing he was still in a coma. He did not want to go back there ever again. 

“Poppy, stop tryin’ to lift that table.” Tora said as he watched her leaned down and try to move their heavy coffee table. 

“I dropped something! I just want to get it.” 

“It’s heavy. You’re pregnant.” 

“I’m pregnant, not invalid!” she huffed as she went over to say hi to Alice. “I beat up a man like this, I’m sure a table is not going to do anything to me. Tell them, Alice.” 

“She does have a point,” Alice commented as she handed Poppy the ladle for her to stir something on the stove. “But he also has a point, you’re pregnant. Don’t lift too much.” 

Poppy pouted and turned to the pot on the stove. 

“Can ya help me with these clothes?” Tora asked Poppy who nodded at him. She followed Quincey and Tora to the bedroom where Quincey helped him sit on the bed. 

“I can help if you want,” Quincey offered, but Tora said it was fine. He should be okay with Poppy’s help. “Alright, well, I’m going to go see what delicacies Alice has cooked up.” 

“What do you want to wear?” Poppy asked him as she crossed over to the closet. 

“Anything that’s not jeans,” Tora complained as he tried to take his shirt off but failed because his collarbone was hurting and the cast on his arm got in the way. “And nothin’ with sleeves.” 

Poppy pulled out a pair of sweatpants and one of his running t-shirts. 

“These okay?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” 

He kicked off his shoes and tried to wiggle out of his jeans, except he only managed to get so far. 

“Stand up, you.” Poppy grinned, “I’ll help you take them off.” 

“I…” He sighed. It had been almost two months since he had last been with Poppy and he was pretty on edge. She helped him slide his shirt over his head, Tora trying to keep calm as she unbuttoned and then unzipped his jeans slowly, carefully so she wouldn’t catch anything important. Just the feel of her small hands on him had his body reacting and she gasped softly when his hard member popped free from its confines. 

“Well…” 

“Sorry. Can’t help it.” He said as he looked away. He jumped slightly when he felt her hand wrap around him, squeezing tight enough to get him groaning and staring at her wide-eyed. “Poppy?” 

“I’ve missed you,” she said simply as she dropped to her knees. Tora wasn’t sure whether to be aroused or worried that someone could walk in through the door. Or was he actually turned on that someone _could_ walk in through the door? 

“Lock the door first, at least,” he murmured as he watched her rest her cheek against his thigh. She stood up and went over to lock the door before resuming her position at his feet. 

“Where were we? Ah, yes.” Tora groaned when she wrapped her lips around the head, simply holding him there in the warmth of her mouth. He bit back a groan when she looked him straight in the eyes and licked the sensitive tip with her tongue. She popped the head out for a second. “You should probably try to be quiet ‘cause you know, visitors.” 

“Poppy. You ballsy hamster.” 

She took him into her mouth again. This was going to have to be quick since there were people waiting for them outside. With one hand, she held the base of his penis, pumping it quickly and efficiently as she begun to bob her head. Tora bit his lips and simply stared at her. What was the occasion? Pregnancy hormones? He’d heard of that before… 

Well, damn. He wasn’t going to complain about it. 

She continued to suck and bob her mouth on him, reaching out for his good hand and placing it on her head. 

“Ya dirty hamster,” he murmured as he clenched his fingers in her hair and felt her hands come up to hold herself against his thighs. Which meant, ah. Yes… He pulled her head back, allowing her space to breathe before pulling her back towards him. He felt her take a breath and soon felt himself hitting the back of her throat. She moaned softly as he continued to pump into her mouth. It wasn’t all the time that he got to take control like this, but whenever she offered, he took the opportunity. 

He gritted his teeth as he felt himself start to tingle from his spine to the bottom of his feet and back up to settle on the very hard erection that was currently in her hot little mouth. 

He sped up his hips, letting her hand come up to hold onto his shaft again. “It’s gonna be quick…” he warned her and she simply nodded at him. She pumped him with her hand as she thrusted into her mouth, the friction of it all driving him insane. The way she kept licking and sucking on his head was going to pull a big one out of him… “Poppy…” 

She kept her lips firmly attached to his cock as she slid him in further into her mouth and felt the hot stream of his cum hit the back of her throat. She didn’t move her mouth away until she was sure he was completely done. 

“Damn.” He said as he watched her let go of him with a pop. She licked her lips and stood up, stretching her back as she went. “Now, where were we?” 

She helped him into his sweatpants, dragging them slowly over his hips, his beautiful penis now relaxed against his groin. She had him sit down as she dragged on his shirt over his head. She was about to step away when he grasped her around the waist and brought her to stand between his open legs. 

“What was that for?” he asked her, his eyes shiny with interest. 

“I… I missed you.” She rested her hands on his shoulders and smiled. Her face was still pink, her lips pouty. 

“What about ya?” 

“Mmm, I’m fine. Maybe later we’ll figure it out,” she said calmly. She kissed him on the forehead before pulling away. “Come on, Tora. We got dinner waiting,” she giggled as she pulled him to his feet and led him out the room. 

With a crutch under his good arm and one good leg, Tora went back out to the living room with Poppy. Alice was busy bringing out some plates and Quincey was sitting in the living room couch scrolling through some channels. Erdene came out of the kitchen behind Alice carrying some plates and eyed Poppy and Tora as they sat down on the other couch. 

The hair, the twinkling eyes, the puffy lips. Erdene grinned and came over and leaned down to whisper in Poppy’s ear. 

“Oooh! Gurl, you dirty.” 

Poppy gasped and stared at Erdene blushing madly. “Excuse me?” 

Erdene winked at her, “Don’t act so innocent, Miss Wide-Eyes. I know what you were doing in there. The tousled look, those lips.” Tora turned to the blushing Poppy and looked at up at Erdene. 

“What?” 

“And Mr. Tiger here is not so quiet either,” Erdene tossed her hair over her shoulder before going to sit next to Quincey. Tora flushed slightly, but didn’t acknowledge embarrassment, quite the opposite. He sat back and smirked. 

“I’m not ashamed.” 

“Well, I-I...” Poppy stutters, fanning her face before Alice came out again. 

“What’s going on here?” she asked staring between all four people in the room. She took in Poppy’s red face, tousled look, Tora smirky face as he looked away, Quincey who was ignoring everyone, and Erdene with her grin. “Nevermind, I don’t wanna know. Here, dig in.” 

They ate together, joking about everything and nothing in particular. Erdene, who hadn’t been told yet that Poppy was pregnant nearly choked on her food when Alice asked Poppy about her prenatal appointment. 

“YOUR WHAT APPOINTMENT!?” she screeched jumping to her feet and coming over to her friend. 

“Prenatal?” 

“YOU’RE PREGNANT?” 

“Uh, yes.” 

“AND I WASN’T AWARE?! GURRRRRL. HOW AND WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?” 

Quincey snorted as he took a sip of his soup. “I think we all know the _how_ and I’d say it could’ve even been in that couch you’re sitting on.” He raised his eyebrows in her direction. Erdene glanced back at the seat. 

“Eew.” Erdene grasped her hands to her chest. “Anyways, my dear, sweet, innocent—” Tora snorted. “Okay, maybe not so innocent. Considering what you were just doing in that room before eating... My Poppylan is pregnant! Omg! I’m so excited, this is so exciting! I get to be Cool Auntie Erdene all over again!” 

Poppy flushed prettily, grinning widely as Erdene went into a rant about the importance of her becoming the godmother, baby showers, and names. Alice threw in her two-cents as well, arguing about how important names was to give a child a future. They all laughed when Quincey argued that it should be named after him, because after all, he was a beautiful specimen. 

“Time out, time out!” 

They all turned to Alice who was squinting her eyes at them. 

“Ya know what’s more important than that?” she asked and they all stared at each other. “Last names. This baby’s not about to be born outside of marriage.” 

“Alice, since when have ya cared about marriage and traditions?” Tora asked. 

“Your daddy did right by your mother and married her!” She pointed out with a look. 

“My parents didn’t marry until after I was born... Wasn’t that how it went?” Poppy asked. 

“Girl, ya dad is stubborn. And a little fool sometimes. But this is you guys. Considerin’ the amount of trouble ya both have gone through, it would be good for this baby to come into the world right, don’t ya think?” 

“She does have a point...” 

“I know!” Quincey said excitedly. “I can call my attorney, I’m sure he could help us out!” 

Erdene hung on to his arm. “Ooh. Like an elopement?” 

“We can all be the witnesses!” 

Poppy bit her lip nervously. She glanced over at Tora who hadn’t spoken yet, and found him deep in thought. She hadn’t wanted to say anything regarding marriage because he’d been sick, and it would probably stress him out. They also hadn’t spoken about meeting up with Vince either. They needed to do that. 

“Ya know what...” Tora started and they all turned to him. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” He turned to Poppy whose heart was pounding in her chest. She was sure everyone in the room could hear it. “What do ya say, Bobby?” 

“I... When?” 

“If Quincey can get his attorney, we can do it today.” 

“I’m on it!” Quincey replied as he texted someone on his phone rapidly. 

“Really?” 

“Unless ya don’t want to?” 

“Of course, I want to!” Poppy exclaimed excitedly. She hugged Tora’s arm and pressed her face onto his shoulder. “You don’t have to do it now for me, though. You just got out of the hospital, Tora.” 

“Sweetheart, I almost died, and I spent five goddamn weeks in that hospital. Ya bet I’m gonna marry ya before some other shit happens,” he gritted out quickly. “I said I was gonna do it, so we’ll do it, before ya change your mind.” 

“Oh, Tora!” she sniffed and hugged him. “Well, I guess we can.” 

Erdene and Quincey squealed excitedly. 

Alice grinned widely at her _‘children’_. 

Poppy hung on to Tora’s arm like a lifeline. She couldn’t believe it. She truly was happy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite done, guys.  
> not quite!
> 
> Stay tune!!!


	15. From the Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guys, guys, guuuuuuuuys! Here's another one. I thought it was the end. But it's not! Let's take a look at what happens before the big event. Some emotional moo-moos.  
> ............  
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO MISS LILYDUSK, FOR HER WORK- "MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND" ON WEBTOONS. Follow her on Patreon for amazing goodies ;)  
> .....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL I ASK OF YOU- Christopher West 
> 
> YOU’RE IN LOVE- Joe Hisaishi (On replay! Lol)  
> MOONLIGHT DENSETSU (SAILOR MOON THEME)- Relaxing Piano Crew 
> 
> ANY DREAM WILL DO- Christopher West (piano music actually)  
> HALF A MOMENT- Christopher West (piano music) 
> 
> ...........  
> They're separated for a reason. xD  
> Bear with me, I had to dig deep in my brain for all of these songs.  
> ALSO, if you're interested in other stories, slightly romantic, just something to read, hit me up on TAPAS- Nurse Amethyst:
> 
> "The Thin Line Between Hate and Love"  
> And "Soul on Fire" (in progress)
> 
> And/or Instagram for quirky drawings. It's a collaboration account @lamerabetty

…........... 

“ ** _Alright_** , so we understand we’ll assemble at Alice’s at 6’pm?” 

Everyone nodded. 

Quincey was ready to bounce off his seat with excitement. He hadn’t realized he’d been waiting for this moment all his life—the moment that his friend would finally marry and settle down. It had been hard growing up and seeing the way their lives had turned out, his reserved and Tora’s dark and winding. He didn’t understand what was going on at first, didn’t realize that there were much more darker paths out there beyond his pampered life. Then, Tora had become his bodyguard, the roll of friend had switched even though they were still friends. 

But the feeling, the mood of it had been strained initially. 

What had his father done to him? He’d probably never know exactly, and Tora would never say. Some secrets were better off kept as secrets in the Balthuman world, but just based off some reactions, strange fears and obsessions that Tora seemed to have, Quincey could say it must’ve been something … harsh. 

And now, here he was, his friend, all banged up and bruised but smiling warmly at the girl who had made the hard shell around his heart break down. 

Quincey hadn’t been too sure about what was going on between the two of them initially, the shy yet blunt girl seemed to be too young and sweet compared to Tora. But Tora had been drawn to her and been _very_ obvious about it. It was so weird, to see the normally cool and aloof Tora become a blundering mess around the girl and her seeming so oblivious to him. Tora knew how to push her buttons, and there were times when Quincey had caught her snapping back at him, seen the way that Tora’s eyes appeared to brighten up whenever he got a response. 

He did it on purpose. 

She wasn’t afraid of Tora, and didn’t really seem to care about him either, beyond him being friends with Quincey who had soon become her employer… It both thrilled and annoyed the hell out of Tora. Quincey knew. How? He’d been there watching Tora freaking out about her text messages, grumbling about her not answering his call, or simply smiling at something she might have said, and he’d remembered suddenly… 

He didn’t think Poppy knew just how much she had affected the dark, rough man since the beginning. 

Quincey thought to himself about the time that Poppy had saved young Benjamin from dying outside of MIRACLE and brought him over to his apartment. He’d been shocked at the fact that Tora knew her, and the fact that she didn’t seem afraid of him. Tora couldn’t keep his hands off her. He wasn’t sure what had occurred between that first apartment visit and Tora driving her out to her apartment, but whenever they happened to run into each other—which was often since Tora kept himself around Quincey and Poppy was his employee—it was like watching a flame rushing along a narrow string to the firecracker. 

He had run into them one time, Tora being all over her business as he pressed her against a wall, his hands on either side of her head on the wall, her tiny hands clinging to his black jacket, as she tried to keep up with his mouth on her throat. It was strange, the dark man and the nerdy girl. 

He’d cleared his throat at them, and Tora had stepped back slowly, eyes dark as he kept them on her. He wasn’t sure whether Poppy had been scared, worried, or turned on, but he guessed it was the latter. She fixed her shirt, glared at Tora, and sped past Quincey, her face one whole red splotch. 

“So, can we like, not harass my employees, please?” Quincey said to Tora, who stood there looking slightly confused, and very definitely turned on. 

“Wasn’t harassing her,” he responded, his eyes still stuck on the doorway she had disappeared through. 

“You know what I mean. Honey, you’re so obvious, and it’s sooo obvious that you like her. You’re always watching her like a hawk.” Quincey patted Tora on the shoulder. “Come on, it’s time for lunch. You need more than innocent lambs for food.” 

“Hmm.” 

**And** now, it made Quincey want to cry. Happy tears, of course! 

“Come on, Tora! You and I are going to go dig through my closet for something nice for you to wear. Alice, do you want to come with? We can harass him into dressing nicely.” 

“Well… Aw, what the heck. Sure.” She looked over at Poppy and Erdene. “Where are ya both gonna go?” 

“I’m taking her to my apartment so we can dig through _my_ closet and see what she can wear. I have my mind on something I bought so long ago and still own, but obviously ain’t never going to wear so…” She grabbed Poppy and started dragging across the living room. “Come on, you. Grab your bag and follow me.” 

“Ay, Erdene! Give me a second.” Poppy blushed and laughed nervously. “I gotta go pee. Again.” 

Alice laughed at that and reminded her that it would become a very common occurrence the further along she got in her pregnancy. 

. 

…(cue **‘you’re in love** ’) (on replay lol) …

**What** in the world was he going to do with his life now? 

Tora sat in one of Alice’s big plush couches in the main house. After being poked and prodded –and screamed at—he'd let Quincey help him into a fitted pair of dress pants. They’d managed to find him a nice white dress shirt to wear under a dark silver-colored jacket with black shawl lapels. How the hell Quincey and Alice had managed to get his casted arm through the sleeve was a mystery, but Tora had very explicitly told Quincey that he would just cut his arm out of the sleeve with scissors later because he wasn’t about to fight trying to pull it out. 

Quince had simply shrugged and said it didn’t matter as long as he wore it _now_. 

Then Alice had taken to his hair with clippers and fixed the mess that the doctors had left behind from whatever they had done on his head. All in all, he once again had a short cut that sort of resembled Quincey’s cut and the same style he wore as a boy. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. 

_Gauges stay in_ , he’d told them with a glare, _because it’s a hassle putting them back in._

He even had to wear a stupid bowtie that according to Quincey gave him more of a hot, daddy, hipster look and went well with his hair. Shoes on, stupid bowtie, haircut. He was glad they’d left him alone already. 

Then, he freaked out. 

Because he had no ring to give her.... 

“Quincey!?” he bellowed out, one because he couldn’t climb out of the couch himself, and two because he was freaking out. 

“What? What, who died?” 

“I have no fuckin’ ring to give her,” Tora said with a scowl. “I forgot.” 

“What are ya bellowin’ about now, boy?” Alice asked as she came into the living room. She took a puff of her vape and put her hands on her hips. “What?” 

“I have no ring to give, Poppy.” Tora said and looked horrified. How? He should’ve planned this before. He should’ve really planned this out better, what was he supposed to do now? 

“I think I've got somethin’ to solve your problem,” Alice said and left the room again. Tora glanced at Quincey who shrugged. 

“Can’t give her someone else’s ring, can I?” he asked his friend. “I don’t want to take Alice’s old wedding ring. That’s a memento.” 

“I don’t know. I’ve never been married,” Quincey frowned. They glanced up when Alice rushed back in with a small polished wooden box. She unlocked it and opened it, enjoying the wide looks both boys gave her. Curious little bastards. 

“Ya _do_ have a ring to give her actually,” Alice told Tora as she pulled out a small cloth purse from inside. “Open your hand, palms up.” Tora did and waited as Alice flipped the bag over and a small ring fell into his palm. 

“What’s this? Is this yours?” 

“No. That,” she pointed to the ring on his hand, “was actually your mother’s wedding band.” Quincey gasped and Tora stared at the ring with a small, confused look on his face. 

.

... (cue’ **Moonlight Densetsu** ’) …

“ **How**... did ya keep it?” He studied the tiny ring in his big hand... The band had a slightly pink tone—he took a guess and figured it was what they called _rose gold_ —and the stone arrangement resembled a flower. The main stone was rose colored as well, a square centered on the band with small leaf shaped diamonds surrounding it, making the pink stone pop out. The band itself twisted in tiny vine designs and joined at the leaves... 

His heart clenched, because... he could see Poppy wearing it and loving it. It wasn’t flashy like other rings he’d seen, or extremely simple that he’d want to give her something else. He was sure this had cost his father a good sum of money, when he’d bought it, but Tora concluded that he had also thought of the woman he was giving it to when he’d bought it because it seemed very detailed and specific to just be a regular ring. 

He kept looking at the center pink stone and frowned. It reminded him of something... 

“You know, what that arrangement reminds me of?” Quincey mused and they looked at him. “A poppy flower! It’s simple, not too frilly, but very in your face! Look!” He pulled out his phone and googled the flower, showing them a picture of a pink one with its large center. It didn’t have a crazy number of petals, and it was rather plain if put besides a rose... It looked a bit inconspicuous at first, but nobody could miss such a flower when they finally saw it. 

“Whoa.” Tora said and Alice just grinned as she puffed her vape. “What?” 

“That was your ma’s favorite flower.” Alice started and both men looked at her in disbelief. “Your dad had it specifically designed for her. She said that it was one of the few things that he did right for her. Besides you, apparently.” She nodded at Tora who flushed pink himself and stared back at the ring. 

“Shut the front door!” Quincey said excitedly, with a hand pressed against his chest. “That is really romantic! Wow.” 

“She had a sense of humor. When she first met Poppy, it amused her greatly that her name was _Poppy,_ but she probably thought it was more of nickname since they all called her Lani. I personally think that it was meant to be. Your ma’s love of the flower named the same way as the girl who ya couldn’t keep away from. And Poppy’s Ma sure had a sense of humor as well. I tell ya, the way I see it, those two have been twirling their fingers at ya two from the afterlife. A Poppy for the boy whose mother loved poppies... The irony is... big.” 

Tora didn’t know what to say. Normally, he said nothing because he didn’t really care, but this time, he felt shocked into silence. 

“I... How did ya end up with it?” Tora asked Alice who shrugged slightly, then sighed. 

“I knew your parents, Tora. I’ve had this place for a very long time. She was just another girl trying to find her place in the world when I first met her. Your dad wasn’t much older than her. The amount of Balthuman kids who have walked through those doors since this place came to be is unmeasurable. Her friendship with Mary changed her in a good way, she could finally be happy even though she was surrounded by not so happy situations. In the end, all that remained of that girl I once knew was that ring. Do ya remember how or why she died, Tora?” 

“She...d-drank herself to death.” Tora vaguely remember that day, trying to get her to wake up, not realizing she was dead in her own bed, and his life changing afterwards. 

“She said, your father was the best and worst thing to have happened to her.” Alice looked away, out the window. “Best because she found love. She did love your father, they both did, each in their own way, and if not after, definitely in the beginning when they first got together. Worst, because a lot of what came afterwards for them was pain. Best, because she got her tiger-eyed baby boy,” Alice smiled wistfully as she continued to look out. “And worst because she didn’t know how to make sure that ya didn’t end up the same way as your father.” 

If they didn’t know Alice, both boys would’ve thought they heard her sniffle, but she turned back around with a small smile and a clap of her hands. “Alright, enough moping. Quinceton, did ya call that attorney of yours?” 

“Uh, yes. He’s on his way,” Quincey mumbled because he was trying to clear his eyes. “We got about two hours and then just waiting for Erdene to come back with Poppy.” 

“Good, good. I’ma go see what I can do downstairs,” Alice said as she walked out of the room mumbling to herself. 

**Tora** hadn’t spoken yet when Quincey turned to him. 

“Hey, honey, you okay?” Quincey asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Tora nodded and continued to study the ring in his hand. 

“Can ya believe it?” he half whispered. “This being my Ma’s ring? I don’t know whether I want to cry or laugh. You, with the Fabio writing and shit, what do you think?” 

Quincey tapped his chin with a forefinger and thought for a moment. 

“I think that you should take this as a blessing. Look at me, getting all spiritual and shit.” Quincey gave a short laugh. “But no, really. Honey, don’t you see? This was _meant_ to be. Ha. Look at me rhyming and shit now, too. No, really, Tora. Your mother wouldn’t have the power to know that you would _eventually_ fall for little old Poppylan. Your mom loved poppies! Isn’t that crazy? She loved poppies, she wanted you to be happy. Maybe... just maybe, this is kind of her, I don’t know, _recompensation_ for all that she had to go through.” Quincey looked away for a moment, swallowing the hard knot forming in his throat. “Maybe... she pushed the big man upstairs enough so that you’d finally get the life you deserve...” 

“I’ve done so many absolutely, horrible shit during my life...” Tora said as he hung his head. “Poppy’s even seen me put a bullet through another man’s head. And you know what she said? She said I wasn’t a killer, that I was selfless, and kind, and I cared about others more than I liked to admit...” Tora let out a shuddering sigh. “And then I took her virginity on the floor of my dingy apartment just so I could prove I was the opposite of what she thought.” 

Quincey kept quiet. He knew that his friend had done a lot of horrible things, but none of those were from his own choice. They had all been under Balthuman’s orders, plans—everything coldly calculated. He had just been another pawn, another soldier under the clan. 

“You have a choice, Tora.” 

Tora chuckled and looked up at Quincey. “That’s also another thing she said.” 

“And she was right! You took that choice and now you’re here,” Quincey explained, “Because given any other girl, or had you not cared about her at all, you wouldn’t be here right now, _today_ , about to marry her. Tora, you’ve loved this girl your whole life!” 

“Hmm.” 

With a sigh, Quincey dropped onto the couch next to Tora and hung his head as well. 

“I think it was about time you stopped playing the role of Vincent Balthuman’s son,” he started slowly, and Tora frowned in confusion. “All this time, his right-hand man should’ve been me, but you had to take on that roll. And what has that done for you? Made you miserable. I know it and don’t deny it. Poppy reappearing in our lives, mine too, was the greatest thing that could’ve ever happened.” 

Tora said nothing, but he knew that Quincey was right. “What are you going to do now?” 

“Well, I'm not about to go back there and try to suck up to him. You know I can’t go back there, Tora. I hate the place, I hate the environment, the responsibility that comes with the last name. I left for a reason and changed my identity. Quinceton Balthuman has always been too much for me, and the friends that I lost because of it... I can’t. The only way that I'll ever go back there is if one of them is dying and there is no one else to take over it... I just...even then, I don’t think I could, Tora. You know that.” Quincey lifted his head and rested his elbows on his knees. “The men would not respect someone like me. The only way they do is when I either have a tantrum and manage to almost get one of them killed in the process. It’s a vicious cycle, and unless someone manages to get threaten, hurt, or killed, there’s not a lot of respect to go around. The biggest, most vicious one always comes out on top. Do you really see me as someone who could sit on Vincent Balthuman’s throne and order someone’s death and watch as they spill their blood before them? Heck, even watching Poppy beating the crap out of Scharch... It was beautiful! But I had to go down some of my dad’s liquor on his desk to get through it—the smell of blood and death in that room was just too much for me. I gagged throughout the whole thing while Poppy took it in stride, so much so that my dad had to ask his bodyguards to get her off him; And that’s the reason she’s your bride.” 

“Because she’s vicious?” Tora asked with a small smile as he thought of the times she’d punched him in the face when she’d been angry. Quincey sounded extremely proud of her. 

“No, because she’s strong, resilient, and she’s not afraid to push her fears aside for something she wants,” Quincey concluded. He chuckled and nudged Tora on the side, “Not to mention, pregnant. You really couldn’t keep your hands off her!” 

Tora blushed but chuckled either way. “Yeah... Not all the time.” 

“You happy, though?” 

Tora thought for a moment. Was he happy that she was having his baby? Yes. The answer was simple and easy, he didn’t need to question it further. Was he happy that it had been under their current circumstances? Probably would’ve liked it to go down differently, but it didn’t change the fact that she carried his kid, _their_ kid, inside her. Every time he thought about it, that it was a part of _him_ within her, that she loved, it made him want to cry. Thinking about the fact that he’d walked straight into the fire, seen death in the face and come back to that gift made him feel extremely—what did Quincey call it— Ah! Blessed... 

So, was he happy? “Yes. Very.” 

“I’m glad. Like I said, you deserve to be happy.” Quincey patted Tora on the shoulder and hesitated only slightly before he threw his arm around the darker man in a hug. “I’m glad I have you as my brother, Tora. And be sure, I'm going to be around for a long time, harassing you and Poppy, and spoiling that kid of yours.” 

Tora grinned and let Quincey hug him. 

When he was satisfied, Quincey simply stood up and said he had some details to take care of and that he’d be back to help Tora. 

Tora thought about all the things that had happened over the course of the previous year—meeting Poppy, saving her ass, getting attached to her, moving in together...It was almost too good to be true. Part of himself kept saying to not get _too_ attached, that good things always must come to an end, but he pushed it down. No. No more. No more of that...He had a reason to live, to be happy. He had Poppy, a baby on the way, he was getting married and starting his own family... 

_His_ own family... 

_His_ own. 

And then he did what he hadn’t done in a really long time, not since the time when he was still nothing but a boy left behind in a cage... 

He cried. 

.

.

 ** _...meanwhile... (cue_** ** _‘ half_** ** _a moment’, ‘all I ask of you’)_**

****

**_“O.M.G._** Poppy girrrrl, you look amazing!” 

“Are you sure that I don’t look too fat in this? It feels a little tight, and you know, I've gained a couple pounds...” 

“Nah! Forget that. Look at all those curves of yours! Tora won’t be able to keep his hands off you!” 

“Erdeeennneee... but you know he can’t be doing stuff like that. He just got out of the hospital!” 

“Well, that didn’t stop you from jumping him earlier!” 

“He wasn’t doing anything, I was,” Poppy grumbled as she ran her hands down the dress to her stomach. Then she realized what she’d said out loud and felt her face heat up. 

“Giiiiiiiirrrrl, Poppy, you surprise me. Well, not that much! I knew you had it in you!” Erdene winked at her as she helped her get into her shoes. “Or had _him_ in _you_ more likely.” She made sure to give Poppy another wink that had her turning bright pink. 

“Oh gawd.” 

“Enough about that. Come here and take a look at yourself.” Erdene urged and motioned for Poppy to go stand next to her in front of the tall, body-length mirror. “I think you look gorgeous!” 

Poppy went over to her side and gasped. 

The woman in the mirror did not... Really? Was that really her? 

“What do you think?” Erdene asked with a grin. 

“I-I don’t know what... Is that really me? Oh my god, Erdene.” She gave her tall friend a hug. “I can’t take this dress from you! What if you need it?” 

Erdene laughed and shook her head. “No, honey, no. That part of me sailed a long time ago.” 

Poppy turned back to the mirror. When she’d first seen the dress, she’d been shocked at how beautiful it was. It had a lace covering all over, with a satin under layer. It fitted to her body, accentuating her curves, and what surprised her the most was the fact that it looked innocent and modest from the front—with its high neckline that draped her shoulders and its long laced sleeves... until you saw the backside, which dipped into a ‘V’ and reached slightly below the middle of her back. 

_Meeting in the front, party in the back_ , is what Erdene had said. 

It was fitted throughout the top and towards her hips, after which it sorta draped around loosely. It wasn’t too long, or too short, but just perfectly so that it created a small train in the back without the need of assistance to move around. 

It was beautiful. 

“Erdene, you really didn’t tell me how or why you had this dress in your closet...” 

Erdene was working on Poppy’s hair, they’d concluded in leaving it in a loose up do, where if strands of hair decided to fall out of the do, then so be it. It gave her a slightly tousled look. 

“It was supposed to be mine.” 

Poppy gaped. “What do you mean yours? Then, why are you giving this to me!?” 

Erdene smiled wistfully at Poppy through the mirror. “Because it’s not me anymore. Like I said, that ship sailed a very long time ago, Poppy.” 

“I don’t understand. Erdene, were you _supposed_ to marry someone?” Poppy was sure that Erdene would’ve mentioned something like this before. But perhaps it had been bad that she’d chosen to keep it on the down low. 

The slender girl took Poppy by the hand and led her to her bedside. “I was engaged once, when I was about twenty. He was older than me by a couple years, ridiculously handsome, a smooth talker, and I thought myself to be in love. I didn’t believe it when my father told me that the reason why he was after me was because of my inheritance and because he was looking to come into business with my father’s company, but my father knew. Long story short, I pretty much went against my parents, had everything ready...And then, one day when I decided to visit him at work for lunch, I ended up overhearing his conversation on the phone with someone. He was telling them how everything was working out well. That he was pretty much using me, and the only bright side to it all was that I was pretty enough and had a nice body he enjoyed. That was the first man I'd been with, and the last that picked me as a second choice. I pick my own men now, Poppy.” 

Poppy felt her lip tremble. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. But... this dress.” 

“Meant _love_ to me. I don’t need it anymore, Poppy. You do, you’re in love. This is my childhood dream, my innocence, my innocent love, and best wishes all poured into something that I want to give to you.” Erdene said with a teary smile. “Dangit, girl. Stop it! You’re gonna make me ruin my mascara!” 

“I’m sorry! I’ve just been so emotional lately!” Poppy laughed tearfully. “It’s the pregnancy hormones turning me into a mush.” 

Erdene giggled and got her friend a tissue, dabbing her own carefully as well. 

“Well, do you think you’ll ever fall in love?” Poppy asked, “I’m sure there’s someone out there for you as well. I found my own in the most random of places, I'm sure you that go places, have more chances than I did.” 

“I’ve decided that I cannot live my life expecting a man to come and save me, Poppy. I enjoy men, that’s not a lie, but I make my own choices. I choose them because I want to choose them, not because it’s going to be a gain, besides the obvious physical one. I don’t think I'm meant to be married, Poppy. My heart died along with my love that day.” Erdene looked away. “I’m not saying I absolutely will never fall in love again, I just don’t plan to.” 

“Whatever happen between you and Quincey?” 

Erdene smiled. “Quincey... is Quincey. It was fun and games, and oddly exhilarating while it lasted, but I think he has the same train of thought that I do. He's also got his own demons to beat and I don’t think I'm the appropriate person for that. See, the way that I see it is this way,” Erdene crossed her leg over the other and turned to face Poppy. “He still hasn’t found what he’s looking for, starting by who he truly is. He has an idea, but he’s still afraid to truly be himself. I love him as a person, he’s really funny and just overall a nice guy, but I'm not what he’s looking for.” 

“Yeah, I suppose,” Poppy sighed. She jumped when her phone started ringing. “Speak of the devil...Hello?” It was Quincey. 

“Are you guys almost done? It’s forty till six.” 

“Yeah, we’re done. We were, uh, grabbing our things to go,” Poppy said with a look at Erdene who chuckled and went into her walk-in closet to grab something to change into. “How’s Tora.” 

“Probably stressing out. That’s why I wanted to make sure that you guys were on your way.” 

“Yes. No worries. Erdene is just grabbing her shoes and we’ll be on our way.” 

“Well, that’s going to take a while then,” Quincey mused, and Poppy raised her eyebrows at him. “She takes forever to get dressed.” 

Poppy’s eyebrows raised even higher. “Well, you seem to know her well.” 

“Enough, I suppose,” Quincey said with a snort. “Get your cute booties out here.” 

“Alright, alright. We’ll be there.” Poppy stashed her phone into her bag as Erdene popped back out into the room dressed in a satin mini dress with lace sleeves and neckline. Her lavender dyed hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she was sporting some thigh high flat black boots. 

“What says you?” she asked with a pose. 

“Wow.” 

“What I was aiming for. Now come on, Poppy dear. We have a wedding to get to!” 

They grabbed their bags and Erdene led Poppy out and into the car. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knoooow I keep saying it's the last chapter, but I won't say it anymore because I can't let go of this story and leave a lot of loose ends. We're getting close, BUT NOT quite! So bear with me. LOl  
> I was going through a lot of emotional crap when writing this chapter, can you tell? And i think I kept trying to throw all my stress and emotions and broken heartedness into this.
> 
> Also, I should be writing my paper about DNA and shstuff, but I don't care. I needed a getaway to clear my head after spending hours out in the sun wearing a head to toe bodysuit, shoe booties, gloves, N95 mask that made my look like a duck, and a full face shield. I looked like one of those guys from Monsters INC coming in to see about a 2319. LOL
> 
> I'm tired. Here's this guys.  
> stay safe.


	16. Forgive and Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today's the day! For a lot of things. for weddings, for forgiveness.  
> ....................  
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO MISS LILYDUSK, FOR HER WORK, "MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND"  
> FOLLOW HER ON PATREON FOR LOTS OF GOODIES!  
> ......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE ONLY EXCEPTION- Paramore  
> GREATEST LOVE STORY- Lanco  
> FROM THE GROUND UP- Dan and Shay
> 
> ..............
> 
> Hello everyone! I feel bad that I feel this is a bit short, or I don't know.  
> I've had a long week and my brain cells are dying. I am thinking of a special chapter after this one.  
> Take care everyone!!!!

..............................

**Forgive and Forget**

..............................

 **“Is** this spot taken?” Tora looked up from the floor where he’d been staring at the last couple minutes and found none other than… “Hi.”

Poppy’s father.

_If I wasn’t Poppy’s father,_ Robert concluded with a heavy sigh _, Tora would’ve popped my face in already. No love lost there._

“Hey,” Tora said unexcitedly and nodded towards a chair in front of him. “Sit.” Besides those words, Tora made no other motion that indicated he wanted to start a conversation with the older man. _Well, shit,_ Robert thought _, I have my work cut out for me._

“So… Alice says that you’re marrying my baby girl today…”

There was a hint of hesitation that had Tora studying the other man. Was he here to give another spiel about why he should stay away from Poppy? Tora could already feel a vein popping…

“If you’re here to give me reasons why I shouldn’t marry Poppy, save it. I almost died. I’m going to marry her even if you don’t want me to.” Tora pouted slightly and looked the other way. If it wasn’t for the fact that he could barely walk and that he needed some help getting out of his seat, he would’ve walked away already.

“I—” Robert stopped again. He’d noticed the very faint bruises that lingered on the younger man. He had a cast on one arm, and a boot on the other. His hair had been cut short—which immediately reminded Robert of Tora as a 9-year-old boy—and did that mean that he’d… Robert looked away feeling horrible for a moment because that could only mean one thing.

He’d gone out, knowing he was walking straight towards death. For Poppy.

“Well?”

“You’re in love with her.” Tora snorted at that. 

“Yes. I already said that before,” he eyed Robert who was now staring at the floor. “You didn’t believe me.”

“You almost got yourself killed for _her_ ,” Robert said, finally looking back up to Tora. Tora said nothing. “Tora, I’ve known you since you were about nine or ten. You were always this tough kid, getting into fights with other boys, but with my baby girl, you were the calmest boy ever. It was eerie. My wife, Mary… she liked to tease me and say that it was because you were in love with Poppy. But I always told her to stop saying those things. You were only children…”

“Well, even if I wasn’t in love with Poppy then, I sure as hell am now.” Tora sighed. “Why were you so against me marrying her? I wouldn’t hurt her, not out of my own free will. Never.”

Robert stood up and ran his hands through his hair. He really was getting too old for all the emotional rollercoaster rides he’d been getting lately.

“Because I didn’t want her to end up like your mother.”

Tora snapped his eyes to Robert. What was that supposed to mean? Clan whore? Dead?

“How? Like my mother? A clan whore?” Tora snapped because he was starting to feel anxious.

Robert flushed at the last part and shook his head. “No. Heartbroken.”

What was it with people and that word when describing his mother? First Alice, now Robert. Everyone seemed to know his mother except for Tora. He gritted his teeth and looked away.

“I never thought that Poppy would consider being with other people from that clan. My daughter’s too damn stubborn for her own good and when she gets her mind stuck on something, she sticks her teeth in and doesn’t let it go.” Robert smiled wistfully and looked back at Tora. “I didn’t doubt that you’d protect her. It just concerned me that she’d end up broken because that’s what happened to your mother apparently. I didn’t spend a lot of time around her, but my wife did. Your mother was strong, on the outside, had to be for you, but she’d confide in Alice or Mary every now and then about her true feelings with her environment. She didn’t want you to go down the same path that your father had gone…”

“I’m out,” Tora started with a hard swallow. He looked at Robert with dark eyes. “I went to see Vincent about a month and a half ago…”

Robert took in Tora’s appearance again before dropping his head sadly.

“Was it because of what I said to you that first time we met?”

“Well,” _YES,_ Tora wanted to say _, because you were being a dick to you daughter_ , “Not entirely. I’d been staying away from the clan before that. When I met Poppy… “Tora grinned to himself as he thought back to Poppy climbing out of that damn roadside bush, “I had been on a ‘sabbatical’. But some, uh, situations made me come back. It’s been a real rollercoaster ride since then…”

“So, what’s going to happen now?”

“I’m not entirely sure… I have a couple of things that I wanted to do when I was a kid…” Tora scoffed at himself, shaking his head as he thought of what 9-year-old Tora’s dreams were as a boy as compared to the possibilities of them now. “But we’ll see how it works out. I’ve got money saved up for a good long time, if that’s what you’re worried about…”

“I haven’t said anything.”

“I know what you’re thinking. I’m not going to mooch off your daughter.” Tora ran his good hand over his face. “Especially with the baby on the way…”

Robert nodded and blushed. “I’d forgotten about the baby!” What he hadn’t forgotten about was the fact that this dark, tall and looming man was in a physical relationship with his baby. He ran his hands down his own face as well.

Tora leaned back against his seat. His face was starting to hurt from all the talking. He stared out the window and thought about what Robert had said. Did the thought about not being able to provide for Poppy and the baby scare him? Hell yeah. The only thing that made him feel a little safer was the fact that he’d saved enough over the last couple years—and Vince had given him a good hefty raise last time he’d asked—to last him for a while. He wasn’t such a big spender, the most he’d spent on was his shoes—and phones since his giant hands hated the tiny things— but now he had other things to worry about.

“Listen, uh, Tora, I want to…”

Tora turned back to Robert who was now standing. He looked uncomfortable, unsure of himself, and plain out scared.

“Yeah?”

“I …wanted to… I wanted to apologize,” Robert said as he hung his head. “I was a jerk to you and to Poppy last time we met. Please, forgive me. I tend to stick my foot in my mouth often. It’s a horrible habit I’m trying to break, believe me, I’ve received my earful from Alice over the years for it, and now again. I’m sorry.” Robert bowed slightly at the waist, and Tora’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He didn’t say anything at first, just tried to take in what had just happened.

“I… Hmm.” Tora thought for a moment. He wasn’t a complete asshole—okay, sometimes he was, but not right now—that he would make the older man grovel. He supposed he had to keep some sort of… _civility_ between them considering he was going to be his father-in-law.

 _Father-in-law_ … Sounded so weird.

“You know, Poppy’s still upset and hurt over you…”

Robert glanced up at the younger man. “I know. I… really want to apologize to her. I’ve tried calling her a couple times, but she denies my calls. She also hasn’t been answering any of my messages since that time at her apartment.” He twisted his hands nervously. “Do you think she’ll be… That she’ll ever forgive me?”

“Hmm. Well, she is kind of stubborn,” Tora commented with a slight smirk. “And very hormonal.”

“Gah. I haven’t forgotten about how that goes.” Robert muttered. “She’s not too far along now… Give it a couple more months…”

“Gee. Thanks.” Tora replied with a scowl. He studied the older man as he stared out the window. “You know, there is one thing that you can do for me… And for Poppy…”

Robert looked at him and cocked his head.

“And that is?”

“Well… Sit down, let’s discuss this…”

Robert sat back and down and listened.

…………

**“Well,** would you look at what the cat dragged back in.”

“Har har, hilarious, blondie,” Erdene said with a raised eyebrow. She’d stepped out of her car and Quincey who had been standing outside smoking a cigarette. The slender woman gave him a look. “I thought you didn’t smoke. You shouldn’t be smoking that.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of things I shouldn’t do, but I do them anyways,” Quincey replied with a long drag of the cigarette as he gave her a lingering look. Erdene smirked at him and looked away for a second. He dropped it on the floor and put it out with his shoe. Because he was nice—and because Alice would smack him—he picked up the burnt stub to throw away when he got back inside.

“You do know that smoke is bad for pregnant women, right?” Erdene pointed out and nodded towards the car where Poppy was opening the door.

“Good thing I’m not pregnant then,” Quincey said with a smirk. Erdene rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms.

“Poppy, not you, stupid. Help me get her out of the car.”

Quincey followed Erdene back and over to the passenger side door.

“Wow. Is that my Poppylan?”

“Yup. Still me.” Poppy giggled then stopped and frowned. “Can you guys like, help me out, please? I need to pee.”

Her friends laughed at that. Quincey gave her his arm to take while Erdene helped her with the dress. Quincey stepped back and gave Poppy a once-over.

“Wow. Well, would you look at that!” he whistled at her. “You look beautiful, honey.”

She blushed and grinned back at her friend. “Thank you.”

“Tora isn’t going to know what hit him. Come on, the officiator is waiting.”

…………………………………………………….

“Will ya calm down a minute?” Alice grumbled. She eyed Tora who was visibly starting to look nervous. He was clenching his jaw and sighing heavily every once in a while. “You’re not getting cold feet, are ya?”

“Of course not,” he gritted out at Alice who gave him another look and puffed on her vape. “I’m just… It’s not every day I get married, ya know?”

“I know, but calm down, will ya? You’re making me nervous.”

“Hmm.”

He was like a small stray cat, those jittery ones that would sometimes pop up at her doorsteps. A little twitchy, very nervous, very calculating, and very doubtful of strangers. It still amazed Alice at how far along he’d come and how much he’d survived.

His mother would have been glad to see this day, her tiger baby boy ready to tie the knot. And to none other than her favorite bubbly girl—the girl with her favorite flower’s name. For a second, Alice felt herself get teary and shook the feeling off. No emotional mumble jumbo today. This was a good day, a happy day. She sighed and turned when she heard Erdene coming into the room.

“You guys ready?” she asked and glanced over at Tora who was looking at her with wide eyes and a nervous tick of his jaw. “Breathe, big guy. Don’t need you passing out on us.” She finally took in what he was wearing. “Also, nice outfit.” She winked at him and left again.

Alice clapped her hands happily and gave Tora a toothy grin. “Well, are ya ready, boy?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, alright!” Quincey came into the room with a big grin on his face. He went over to Tora and patted him on the arm. “Wait until you see your bride, honey. She is just a sight!”

“So, we just go?”

“And wait for her to come in, yes. Come on, I’ll help you,” Quincey said as he let Tora lean on him slightly as they walked out to one of the main rooms of Alice’s place. “We’ll wait for her to come in. You’re going to stand at the altar, I’ll stand by with you, just in case, and Alice and Erdene can be our little guests in the seats.”

“Alright.”

They followed Quincey out to prepare.

.

 **Poppy** was a mess.

Well, she felt like a mess, because she was sure she looked gorgeous. Even Quiney had said so and that man was the most fashion obsessed and direct guy she’d met. She trusted his judgement. For the most part

“Okay, okay, okay. Breath Poppylan! You can do this!” she told herself, before waving her arms around frantically to try and dry her sweaty palms. “Oh god! I’m going to faint!”

“No, you’re not.”

“ARGH!” she jumped and turned around to find her father standing nervously behind her. He took her all in, his baby girl in her wedding attire and felt his heart patter with emotion. She was beautiful and it saddened him that his Mary couldn’t be here to witness her baby marrying. “Dad! What are you doing here?”

He saw her immediate apprehension, saw her doubtful eyes.

“It’s your wedding day.”

“Yes, I know. But...” she looked away from him as she hugged herself. “You made your mind up about it last time and very loudly expressed your thoughts on it. So, if you’re here to remind me that you don’t agree with this, then it’s best if you just keep it to yourself... Please.”

With a sigh, Robert pulled one of the chairs at the nearest table and sat down.

“I’m not here to tell you that.” Poppy glanced over at him nervously, noticing the way he was dressed in a suit as well. He was here for the wedding as well?

“So... what are you here for?”

“To walk my daughter down the aisle and hand her off to her groom.” Robert felt the knot in his throat tighten up at that last part. She was so still, still trying to figure out if this was a joke or something else.

“I don’t understand...” With a frown she added, “Last time you said that you wouldn’t even give us your blessing. Now you want to walk me down the aisle?” She could feel herself getting teary as well. “You really did hurt me, Dad. Not only me, but Tora as well and he really didn’t deserve your words.”

Robert hung his head as he listened to his daughter. She was right, Tora did not deserve all of Robert’s doubts and the words that he’d said to him. He was just afraid that he was losing his daughter to the same life that had tried to wrap itself around his life years before. He'd been able to walk away from it, for his honesty and simple way of putting things before Vincent. He’d taken his wife and kid and moved away and made a new life for himself, thought Mary had forgotten about that other life, until he found out that she had still been contacting Alice and Claire. Lani’s death hit her hard because she had become a close friend—as close as you could possibly get to someone with clan connections.

“I know, Poppy. Believe me. I... I apologized to Tora already, and I think he forgave me, not entirely sure...” He thought about his conversation with the other man. “He did have one request though. I just needed to see what you will say about it.”

“Hmm.” Poppy turned to her father and walked over closer to him, still hesitant. “What was that you wanted me to see about?”

“His request was that I get to walk my only baby girl down the aisle on her wedding day.”

Poppy gasped and blushed. She hugged herself again and frowned in the direction of the doorway. “That man can be a little pushy some days,” she muttered under her breath.

“What do you say, Poppy? Will you let me walk you down the aisle?” Robert looked up to her, hope and fear both mingled in his eyes. “I am so sorry, love. I know I've been insufferable these last couple years. Your mom’s death just kind of hit me hard, you know. You nor Tora deserved to hear me say those stupid words. And truth be told, I would’ve lived the rest of my life hating myself for hurting you had something happened to Tora. I’m sorry.”

Poppy sighed and shook her head at him. “You know I can’t stay mad at you, Dad.”

“Well, I really thought you were mad at me. You wouldn’t my calls or messages.” Robert explained as he glanced up at her.

“I was confused. I mean, Tora was missing for a good two weeks, I thought he’d died. Then, I suppose all the pregnancy hormones were making me all sorts of emotional. I’ve been hanging around with Alice because I didn’t want to be alone.” Poppy walked over to him and stretched out her hand to him which he took right away. “You’re my dad. You’re the only parent I have left. My only family by blood. Now, I’ve got Tora, Quincey and Erdene. Alice. If you think about it, if you’re ever scared to leave me alone somewhere, think about how Alice will make sure to set me straight.” Poppy giggled at that, remembering the first time that Tora had brought her over to eat here. He’d been teasing her until the short, little woman had smacked him across the head with her hand. That was when she realized that Tora was a softy at heart, and Alice had these big dangerous men doing what she wanted with a snap of her fingers.

“I’m sorry, baby. I was just... very surprised to walk into the apartment and then see some tall naked guy come out of your room.” He made a face and chuckled. Poppy turned bright red and looked away. “But okay now... considering you are marrying him. So...”

“So?”

“So, will you let me walk you down the aisle?”

Poppy hugged her father and kissed his forehead. “Of course, Dad. You’re my only Dad and I wouldn’t let this slide. There’s no other person I'd rather have to do that with me.”

“Thank you, honey.” Robert sighed in relief, feeling the heavy weight that had been pressing down on him lift off his chest. “Uh, but maybe we should go now. Your groom was starting to get a little angsty when I left him.”

Poppy giggled. “Yes. I can see that happening.”

Father and daughter walked out giggling amongst themselves.

...............

“Oh shit! I forgot about Poppy!” Quincey exclaimed suddenly, making Tora jump slightly.

“What?”

“Who’s going to walk her down the aisle?”

“We have no aisle,” Tora said with a roll of his eyes. Erdene glanced over at Alice who was calmly sitting in one of the set-up chairs puffing on her vape.

“I completely forgot about that as well,” Erdene said with a frown. “Maybe Quincey can do it?” The blond man nodded and Tora shook his head, earning himself a look from both Erdene and Quincey.

“It’ll be fine.”

“But—”

“I know what I'm talking about,” Tora said and looked away again. He was starting to get nervous. Was he really doing this? He was really doing this! Hol... shit. Wow. He scowled himself mentally for freaking out knowing that Poppy was thrilled to be marrying him. She hadn’t been the most thrilled with him in the beginning, but now...

Hmm.

“Say, Erdene, how did you end up finding a dress for Poppy so quickly?”

Erdene turned to Quincey who’d come to stand next to her. “Hmm... It was mine.”

“It was... wait, did you say yours? Why would you have a wedding dress? Do girls do that? Just keep a wedding dress in their closets, just in case, you know?” Quincey eyed his friend curiously. She was a closed book sometimes. Yet, as with closed books, she was filled with lots of wonderfully, twisted stories. He was sure this was one of those occasions.

She was studying her nails like if they were the most interesting things in the whole world and ignoring Quincey, which obviously only made him more curious to find out about why she would have a dress in her closet.

“Was it a Halloween costume? The bride of Chucky? The Llorona? Some crazy runaway, murder bride? I bet it was that.” Quincey nudged her on the side and she scowled at him.

“Don’t be dumb, Quinceton. It was my dress. Obviously, for my _wedding_ , and let’s drop it. I’m not going to have this conversation with you, right now, right _here_ out of places,” she snapped at him and shoved him away a little. The conversation that she’d had with Poppy earlier had left her a little emotional. She wasn’t used to displaying her emotions, not since she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t let said emotions control her life. It was tiring. “It isn’t any of your business either, so let’s not go there.” She usually rode on a coffee high and forced joy—because if you act like you’re happy and smile a lot, eventually you will start to believe it.

“I thought we were friends,” Quincey muttered before turning away from her and going to take a seat next to Alice who had been studying them from her seat.

“Trouble in paradise?” Alice asked with a poke on his side with her fan. Quincey had a defeated, annoyed, and confused look on his face.

“We’re not a couple or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking, Alice.” He pouted and crossed his leg over the other with a sniff. “Hmph.”

“Yeah? Alright, but that hasn’t stopped you from taking a sip from her honey pot, has it?” Alice commented casually and watched him turn bright red. He sputtered for a moment, looking aghast as he found his voice.

“Alice! What gave you that idea?” he half whispered at her. She simply shrugged at him.

“Old women intuition? Just like I knew when Tora boy over there was achin’ for a taste of sweet Poppylan. Ya guys think ya can go about doing things without me findin’ out, but ya forget that I’ve been around far longer than ya two. I practically raised ya.” Alice patted Quincey’s hand. “Let her be, she’ll come around eventually. Obviously, if she had that dress in her closet it’s because it meant somethin’ to her. Don’t be pushy, Quinceton. Sometimes, ya have to let go of something and let it be, even if you want it. Like that saying goes _, if ya love it, let it go. If it returns, it’s meant to be.”_

“Uh, I’m not exactly in love with her,” Quincey murmured and earned himself a hard nudge in the ribs from Alice’s fan. “Ouch! Alice…!”

“Then let it be. What is it with ya boys tryin’ to get into girls’ pants, and then tossin’ them aside!” Alice humphed as she huffed angrily on her vape.

“I’m not trying to get into anyone’s pants,” Quincey muttered, then added as an afterthought, “…at the moment. But I was just curious as to why she had that dress. Am I not allowed to be curious? I’m a writer by profession, Alice, it’s my job to find good stories and make amazing books and whatnot.”

“I doubt Erdene would want ya meddling in her affairs and writing a book about it.”

“Hmm.”

“She’ll let ya know when she’s ready.”

“I just wish that—oh, hey! Poppy says that she’s ready!” Quincey read from his phone.

Tora whipped his head around as Quincey went to stand next to him and help him stand. Erdene thought it’d be a nice touch to have a wedding march for Poppy, so she simply took out her phone and started the music. She’d been able to hook it up to one of Alice’s stereo systems that Tora had given her for a birthday.

“Okay, let’s do this,” muttered Tora nervously as they looked to the doorway and waited for Poppy to pop out.

.

She was a sight to see.

The most beautiful girl he had ever set his eyes on.

Tora felt his heart skip a beat as he watched his Poppy come to stand at the doorway accompanied by Robert. She had a white, tight dress that cradled all her curves—goddamn—and still left a lot to the imagination. The collar was high and covered her shoulders, the long sleeves covering her arms, but even then… It made his breath catch.

Erdene had truly worked her magic with the make-up and the hair, she even had a bouquet. Holy shit, he caught a glimpse of the heels she was wearing, and it reminded him of the ones she’d worn to Sunday Brunch that one time… And the gift she’d given him afterwards.

He wanted to groan but held himself back because he was obviously not going to embarrass himself in front of everyone.

She was looking straight at him as she made her way over to him, her eyes never wavering from his golden ones.

“Hi,” she whispered with a smile as she came to stand next to him.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered with an awed look.

She blushed and smiled at him before turning to Robert. “Thank you, Dad.”

“Anytime, Pops. Well, not any time, just this time. Because you know, I mean, unless something happened and you had to do—”

Poppy laughed and shook her head. “Just one time, Dad.” She hugged him tightly.

“Love you, Pops.”

“Love you, Dad.”

They let go of each other and turned to Tora who was still looking at them intently.

“Well, it’s time for me to hand her over to you, I suppose.” Robert nodded at the younger man. “Please take care of her and love her. That’s my baby girl, right here.”

Tora nodded back. “Yes, sir. Thank you.” Robert patted Tora softly on the arm before going over to sit next to Alice who gave him a look of approval. Erdene sat behind them and had already whipped out some tissues from her bag.

Quincey’s attorney looked excited. “Are we good? Ready? Wow. I don’t get to do this often, I like it.” Tora held on to Poppy’s hand as they faced the attorney.

In the past, Tora would’ve laughed at the idea that he’d be standing before his friends about to get married, but honestly, now he didn’t want to be anywhere else. This was his Poppylan, his Bobby, the mother of his child, and about to be, his wife.

He wanted to laugh. He could feel it, that bubble of excitement in his chest that wanted to come out and have him laughing, not because it was a funny situation, but because he was…happy? That was a word that he would’ve never used in the past. Then, Poppy had come along and it had been strange and confusing, but he’d been unable to keep away from her.

“Friends and family, we’re gathered here today to celebrate the union of, uh, Tora and Poppylan…”

Tora really wasn’t paying that much attention to the man because he was more preoccupied with staring at Poppy. She felt his eyes on her and glanced at him from the corner of her eye catching him blatantly staring at her. She felt her face heat up immediately.

After that, she really didn’t hear anything else the attorney was going on about since she was busy trying to figure out what was going on in Tora’s head.

“Would you like to say any vows?”

“Huh.”

“Vows. You can say some, if you want.”

“Oh! I wasn’t…I…” she bit her lip nervously because she hadn’t actually thought about those.

“It’s alright, it doesn’t—”

“I’ll say something,” Tora piped in and they all stared at him. He turned to Poppy and held her hand in his as he stared into her eyes. “Poppylan, Poppy… Bobby,” he grinned at that, “I am in love with you. And it’s a terrifying emotion for me, you probably understand that more than anyone else in this room… But I’d rather face that fear of love than be anywhere else where you’re not. I’m not the easiest man to be with, nor am I the most romantic. I’m surprised you put up with all my bad jokes and teasing… I would die for you, to keep you safe… and now our baby…Thank you, Poppy.”

Poppy felt her lips trembling, her eyes getting teary. That was probably the most romantic thing he’d ever said to her, and that was coming from the man who barely ever spoke unless he was cursing someone out.

“Oh, Tora!” she sniffled happily. “I love you, too! I don’t care that you’re not romantic or whatever. I love you for you, and your bad jokes, teasing, and all your tantrum-throwing moments. Even with that potty mouth of yours, I still love you.”

Quincey sniffled loudly from his spot, earning him a look from Robert, Alice, and Erdene—who shouldn’t be complaining since she herself was very teary-eyed.

“Alright! Well, let’s see, unless someone else has anything to say…” he looked around before continuing, “…Then I guess I’ll declare you two husband and wife! Congratulations! You may kiss the bride!”

Tora leaned down and planted his lips over her lips, giving her a thorough kiss that had her breathing deeply and sighing.

“Well, I guess we can see why she’s pregnant now,” Robert joked as he nudged Alice on the side. She gave him a look.

“She gets that from ya. Don’t act like ya don’t remember me running into ya and Mary trying to get it on in one of my dining rooms upstairs.” Alice pointed out making the man blush red. Yeah, he remembered that time.

They went over to Tora and Poppy to congratulate them.

In the midst of all the pulling and hugging, Tora grinned until his face hurt. He kept his eyes on Poppy who got hugged by Erdene, by Alice, by Robert, by Quincey who wouldn’t let her go and kept crying on about true love and how he was going to write a story based on her and Tora.

He had to grin at that and didn’t even make a joke about it. He let them all hug him as well, feeling the comfort of his new family who kept him afloat.

He felt his eyes tear up, a knot forming at his throat, as he thought about all the crazy shit he’d been dealing with all through his life and how much he hadn’t cared at all about whether he lived or died at some point before Poppy appeared in his life.

And now, here he was.

Poppy glanced over at Tora and saw him looking confused, saw the emotion displayed on his face as he glanced out at everyone. She made her way over to him and threw her arm around him, holding him tightly.

“Hi, love. What’s wrong?” she asked in a whisper. He shook his head and kissed the top of her head.

“Nothing really.”

“Then why are you… Hmm. Okay.” She was going to say moody, but he could be moody if he wanted to. He wasn’t one to talk about his emotions, and she respected that, so she usually let him have his space until he was ready to talk to her.

“I’m happy.” She glanced up at him. “Just… happy.”

She held on to his waist and they watched their friends joke with each other and laughing. This was their new family—crazy, a little cranky, awkward, and perhaps a little bipolar at times—but full of love and support.

“Me, too, Tora. Me too.”

.................................................................................

**… two months later…**

**“Poppy,** why do you insist on carrying that bag? Let me help you.”

“No! I can carry it, Quinceton. You only want to help me carry it because you know I have all the snacks.” Poppy squinted her eyes at her friend who rolled his eyes and glared right back at her.

“I’m on a diet. I don’t do snacks.”

“Can you two be quiet for a moment?” Tora asked as they made their way up the wide staircase to the second floor. They were in the Balthuman house again, two months later, and had come down to talk to Vincent and finalize any loose ends. “You’re making me nervous.”

“See?” Quincey pointed at Tora. “Poppy, that bag weighs as if you’re carrying around bricks. Please let me help you.”

“No.” Poppy started walking up the stairs quicker, coming to a short stop at the top when she ran into none other than Scharch. The man glared at her, his eyes quickly falling to her rounded belly and his eyes widened immediately.

“Well, look who it is!” Quincey said loudly when he and Tora reached the top. Tora said nothing, just dropped his arm around Poppy’s shoulders. “The man who got beat up by a girl!”

“Hmm.” Scharch didn’t argue back. It wasn’t because he had nothing to say, but because he knew it would be trouble for him. He hadn’t forgotten what had happened to Claude for disobeying Vince’s orders and whacking Tora across the back of his head. The man walked with a noticeable limp now. “Are you here to see Mr. Balthuman? He’s in his office.” Scharch gave Poppy another look before going around them and walking down the stairs.

“Well, that was something else,” Quincey said with a frown. “I even prepared comebacks for anything he could say to me. Boring.” The three made their way down the hall and knocked on the door before Quincey popped his head inside. “Hi, Dad. Can we come in?”

“Oh. Hello Quinceton. Come in.” Vince did a double take when Quincey came in, followed by a pregnant Poppy and a walking Tora whose bruises and bandages were long gone. “Oh.”

….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No hanky panky in this one guys. Sorry.  
> My brain was too dead for hanky panky. Although I could definitely use some... JK JK JK!!!!!!
> 
> I have an idea for the next chapter that I'm sure some of y'all will be happy with :)


	17. The Requests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tora is finally doing well, his jaw is better, he's married to the woman of his dreams, and with a kid on the way...  
> What else does he need now?  
> To be set free. The only way to do this? To face Vincent Balthuman and set things straight.  
> .............................................  
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO LILYDUSK FOR HER WORK "MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND".  
> FIND HER ON WEBTOONS. CHECK OUT HER PATREON FOR ALL HER GOODIES ;D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE- Grouplove 
> 
> SKIN- Rag'n’Bone Man 
> 
> SUNDAY MORNING- No Doubt 
> 
> NO DIGGITY- Blackstreet

**…more than a year ago… “That Night”**

**Tora** watched Poppy quietly. 

She was on her third slice of pizza as she commented on something that had occurred at work. He watched the way one of his dress shirts fell loosely around her, coming down to only one or two inches above her knees. She made a move as if she was going to sit cross-legged—Tora watched the grimace on her face when her legs opened—and she quickly sat back into the position she was before. 

She was obviously uncomfortable and not used to being with a man. She had been a virgin and he didn’t know whether to feel flatter that she let him, or angry at himself for using her. But he hadn’t ran out the door once it was over, so it wasn’t that way, right? Her cheeks were still flushed pink, her lips still pouty and pink from his kisses, and she didn’t know it yet, but would be sporting a nice hand print mark –probably was right now—on her butt cheek for a couple days. 

He grinned at that thought, feeling smug that no one else would know it, except for him. 

“What are you smiling about?” 

He looked up at her face and found her looking amused. 

“Nothing in particular, just something I remembered.” 

“Okay.” She looked so damn prim and proper, sitting there calmly with her innocent face and hands on her lap. Tora wasn’t too sure what to do or say in these kind of situations… He wasn’t used to staying around for longer than necessary and no one expected him to. Poppy glanced up at him shyly when he got another faraway look on his face and studied him… 

He was such a beautiful man to look at, and it made her heart flutter to think that she could possibly be in this situation with him! Sitting in one of his large shirts while only in her underwear since he’d snapped her bra, while he sat across from her sitting in only a pair of sweatpants. His naked tattooed chest and arms were doing things to her, his hair was down, and he grinned at something, suddenly glancing up at her and found her staring at him. 

“Well, I know I’m hot, but damn,” he chuckled, “You’re looking at me as if I’m a meal.” 

She blushed but didn’t back down. “I was just admiring your tattoos. They’re really beautiful, do they mean something in particular?” She looked so hopeful, that he was momentarily flustered. People usually asked him where he got them done, not what they meant. 

This was a first. “Uh, well,” he thought for a moment. He wasn’t about to go into detail about what they meant _to him_ , she didn’t need any in-depth look into how fucked up his life had been. Besides, it wasn’t like she couldn’t just look it up. She probably would, this girl was smarter than she let it show… “Well, koi fish for perseverance and shit. Flowers here, for… flowers. Take it all in and it looks cool.” 

She didn’t appear too convinced of what he had said but nodded either way. “Cool.” 

“Hmm.” She had a habit of letting him get away with not saying a peep, he’d noticed that right away when he’d met her. That time at Alice’s, she tried to get him to calm down when he’d been ready to cuss Jacob out, but... she’d simply drawn her hand over his mouth and asked him to not be angry. 

“Anyways, this pizza was really good. Thank you,” she said with a smile as she stood up. He watched her walk over to the bedside and glance nervously around, her eyes finally landing on him. “So, um, do you... do you think you could give me a ride home?” One eyebrow lifted at that. “I was just...thinking that maybe it would be best for me to go home... and rest, but...” she paused and took a deep breath. 

Tora got to his feet when he saw her turn around and walk over to the window, the lights from the outside signs bouncing off her like a colorful halo. He heard her sniff and he felt a twinge of panic. Was she crying... because she regretted what had happened between them? 

Tsk. 

He padded over to her side and simply stood beside her, not touching her, not looking at her, just staring out the window the same way she did. 

“Why are you crying?” he started, “If you start sayin’ it’s because I abused you, then you need to stop, because I'm not going to play this game. You wanted it as much as—” 

“I’m not crying because of that!” she said as she looked up at him. “I-I don’t regret that. I’m just... Oh god! I almost died!” She gasped the last part out as she hugged herself and turned away from him again. “I almost died, and it was all because of some mistake, a misunderstanding. I’m not entirely sure why... I could have been dead already.” She started crying softly as she threw her hands up to her face. 

Tora sighed. He had been expecting her to break down way sooner, but she’d been so cool and acted so brave that he thought she was fine. Now he realized that she might have just been in shock through the whole deal and now that her adrenaline high was gone, it was back to reality for her. He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, didn’t move, didn’t squeeze her, just held his hand there. 

“You’re very much alive, Poppy. You didn’t die. You’re here.” 

“But I could have!” she snapped at him as she swung around, her tear-stained cheeks shining from the falling neon light signs. “I could have. And they said I was your ‘woman’, the ‘Tiger’s Woman’ and you didn’t deny it nor accept it.” He watched her trembling lips and he knew she was so close to bursting into another set of tears. 

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” He pulled her towards him, feeling her tense up immediately. He didn’t move away, however, and held her against him until she finally relaxed. He wasn’t sure about what he was doing, just stood there and let her cry out her shock and frustration. The first time facing death was the hardest... Watching someone die, watching the way someone’s skin loses its color from life to dead greenish gray... It was difficult the first time. 

As a boy, he’d heard comments about how the ‘light fades in their eyes’ when someone dies, but he didn’t quite understand it nor believe it to be true until he’d seen it. His first kill had been a man that had tried to serve as a double agent—he had connections with the Balthumans and connections with another group some cities away—and Vincent had said it would be a good way to start his ‘career’, although Tora figured it was mostly because Vincent wanted him to see what happened to those that tried to go behind his back. 

He didn’t think he’d ever forget the way the man had stared up at Tora with wide eyes as he held on to his blood-stained shirt. Tora had been about seventeen, watching the way that the man’s eyes had sparked angrily, changing slowly to fear, finally to resignation when Tora only observed him as he bled out—the blade in his chest perforating one of his lungs, collapsing it, and the second one perforating part of his heart, making him gush out quicker. Finally, with a sad nod of his head, he stared at Tora straight on as his breath shuddered, and his eyes dimmed, his vibrant green eyes turning a mossy green with the loss of life. 

And Tora had believed about the ‘fading light of life’ then. 

He’d turned to walk away back to the car when Vincent had been waiting for him but changed his mind and gone back to close the man’s eyes. Even then, he’d thrown a prayer out there to whoever would listen that even if the man had been a killer, that at least his _murdered_ soul could find some peace... 

Every single kill afterwards had meant nothing at all, he’d been numbed after the first... 

**_“I_** was so scared,” Poppy mumbled against his chest. “So scared. They kept saying they’d sent you messages, but that you hadn’t responded yet. I knew it, though, I knew you would come for me!” 

Tora wanted to snort loudly but stopped himself from doing so because he knew he would hurt her feelings. He still thought that she gave him more credit than he deserved. She had this habit of getting under his skin, even since the first time he’d fully interacted with her. And he let her do so again and again. He didn’t quite understand the reason why he did so... 

“Well, who would be around for me to tease and rile up if you were dead?” he grunted out, trying to make it seem like it was more of a gain for him than for her. She looked up at him, studying him for longer than he felt comfortable with, looking for something he didn’t know or understand, and as if she’d found it and was satisfied with her find, she gave him a soft watery smile, her eyes dropping to his chest instead. 

“Thank you, Tora.” Three words, that was it. It made his heart race and for a second, he wondered if that was normal. He was probably dying. He grunted back a reply that wasn’t anything at all, just a grunt of acknowledgement before he stared out the window. 

“I’m going to bed. It’s late and I’m tired.” He dropped his arms from around her and turned to climb into the bed. He threw her a look she couldn’t decipher but settled on it just being... strangely relieved. “You can come with, if you want.” 

Poppy wanted to ask him why, but instead giggled nervously. She turned back to the window and stared at the bright neon lights outside. The city was dark and quiet, while her brain was loud, hectic. She should be home right now, she would normally be home right now, cuddled into bed with her Totoro plush keeping her company. She gasped when she felt him grasp her hand and she turned back to him. He had reached over, while still on the bed, and was pulling her towards him. She gave him a questioning look. 

“Look, it’s late, or morning, however ya wanna look at it. Ya need sleep.” 

“I really should...go...” 

“There are no cabs at this time and I'm not driving out at this time.” He sighed, stared at the ceiling for a moment, before going on, “Just... ya need sleep. I promise I won’t do anythin’ funny. Come on, Poppy.” 

She gave the neon lights one last look before turning towards him and letting him drag her onto the bed… 

She let him hold her when she felt his heavy arm enclose her waist and pull her towards him, and she wondered if he was awake, but one look over her shoulder showed that he was indeed asleep. His jet-black hair was loose, his thick lashes rested delicately over his closed eyelids. He was snoring softly, and it made her giggle to herself, but she didn’t want to wake him up. 

It was a while before she fell asleep herself. 

…............................... 

**_...CURRENTLY... Balthuman residence...._**

**“Oh.”**

Vincent leaned back against his tall chair as Tora and Poppy came into the big room after Quincey. His eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise –and maybe not so much surprise considering how Tora acted around her— at seeing that she was obviously pregnant. 

“For a man that spent a little over a month in the hospital, part of it, unconscious, I have to say that you’re a determined one, Tora.” Tora frowned at the comment, momentary flustered and a bit confused. Vince shook his head and directed his next question to Poppy. “Hello, Miss Poppy, would you like to take a seat? Also, how far along are you, if you don’t me asking? Please, please, take a seat.” Vince may be an asshole—a murderer to some, a perfect killer to others—but he prided himself in being a gentleman. He came around the desk and dragged one of the seats back to give her space. 

Flustered as well, Poppy glanced over at Tora for direction, and he nodded at her. 

“I’m quite well, Mr. Balthuman. I’m going on four months soon,” she told him as she smiled and patted her belly. “It feels like more on some days, though.” She took a seat and looked back at Tora and Quincey who were eyeing Vince. 

“Wow, that’s quick. I remember when Claire was pregnant with Quinceton here, she said it was the hardest thing she’d gone through her whole life. Then again, she did have a hard pregnancy and an early labor,” Vince finished as he eyed his tall son who was looking away. 

“Wow. I would’ve never guessed that,” Poppy said as she glanced back at Quincey. The man was tall, looked strong, and never mentioned anything related to being frail. Then again, she remembered how there was a doctor living in the same building as him. “I’m glad that Quincey is doing well now. He really is something else.” 

Tora looked at his friend who was blushing red but said nothing. 

“Yes, I’m glad that he’s doing well, too.” Vince patted Poppy’s shoulder and turned back to the men before him. “Alright, I know why you’re here. Have you thought about what you’re going to ask me? Because this is your chance, I'm not going back on my word once it’s said.” 

Tora nodded. 

“First of all, and foremost, I want her safety,” Tora started and nodded towards Poppy. “I want to be sure she’ll be able to walk around and not be afraid that something’s going to happen to her, to the baby, or her father.” 

“Done and done,” Vince replied, “Scharch is very aware that Miss Poppy is off limits in every sort of way. That’s what you’re referring to, aren’t you?” 

“Yes.” 

“Yeah, he knows that very well. What else?” 

“Any past jobs, connections to every person, death, or situation—I want it all cleared.” Tora continued. The reason for this was that he had a lot of targets on his head, the only way he continued to be alive was because he was under Vince’s protection. He knew that protection was not going to be there once this meeting was over. “Any records that’s going to incriminate me or come back at me in any way, I want it cleared.” 

“Done.” 

“I want to be able to lead a normal life—or as normal as I possibly can—without having a target on my head. To know that my past won’t follow me wherever I move to, if I leave this city,” Tora saw the questioning look Poppy gave him when he mentioned moving cities, but he ignored it and kept talking. “I want my bank accounts to have no connections to yours. I have already opened a different one. And my phone number has been deleted, I have a new one now. I don’t want that tapped in any sort of way. I want to practically be... invisible among the Ares Street life. Or even if it’s not perfectly invisible, I just want to know that I won’t be connected to you, but still safe. Can you do that?” 

Vince sighed. “Done.” 

“I’ve got people that know me, that have assisted me in my assignments, they’re not _clan_ yet, and I don’t know if they’re going to become fully clan ever, but they’ve maintained a low profile to help me while leading a normal civilian life. I’m sure you know who they are, I didn’t always keep them hidden for a reason—so that you knew I wasn’t going around behind your back hiding things." 

“The young man with the hacking abilities?” 

“I want his safety as well. He has nothing to do with anything I've ever done, he was just... a means to get what I wanted to get done, faster. He was indebted to me, nothing related to the clan.” Tora explained and thought about Ronzo who was still young and had a whole life ahead of him. “Can we do that, Sir?” 

“Done.” Vince was surprised that Tora was asking all of this. He had figured that he’d want to disappear, to ghost it out, and live a quiet happy life, but he had thought about everyone he knew and, apparently, cared for. “If he’s not full clan yet, there’s no problem. He may leave if he wants to, but better not be divulging business elsewhere.” 

“He understands. I trust him.” 

“Done, then.” 

“Alice,” started Tora again. “She’s kept her business and home opened all these years for street kids. I’m sure you’re aware that she’s the one that’s kept me alive all these years. I want her safety, in aspects of the word, for herself, her family and business.” 

“That little old hoot,” Vince chuckled at that. Claire would always come home with stories of spending time with Alice. She was like a mother to Claire, and if something happened to her, he was sure Claire would never let him live it down. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that Alice’s business has been safe all these years. She’s a tough one, there’s no messing around with her. And Claire cares for her as well, haven’t you ever wondered why Quincey could go between her place and ours with no trouble. Claire knew that besides our house, Alice’s place was another safe place for him as well. Don’t worry about Alice, she keeps our clan kids safe, and out of trouble, for the most part. She probably runs a tighter ship than I do.” Vince said with a chuckle and Poppy had to giggle at that as well because it was true. 

There was no messing with Alice, no lying to her because she knew what you were up to without having to ask you first. 

“So, she’ll be safe?” 

“Done.” 

“Thank you.” Tora glanced at Quincey again who was looking pale in the face. “Oh. And... Can we continue to keep Quincey out of the business, if he doesn’t want to come into it? I don’t think my conscience would ever be calm at the riots this idiot would cause. With me not around to baby him, you can imagine the type of trouble he can get into?” That made Quincey turn to him with a scowl. 

“That’s absolutely a lie! Freaking rude!” he exclaimed as he glared at Tora. Vince nodded as he stared at his son. 

“Done.” Vince said with a soft chuckle that only Poppy managed to hear for being so close to the tall man. “Anything else, Tora?” 

“That’s the most I can think of right now...I just want peace. To be able to live my life peacefully, with my wife and our kid.” That’s really all he had ever wanted. His life had been a hellhole for the majority of it, the only good things that he could remember was when he was little boy with Poppy following him around. He really hadn’t expected to be getting out of the clan and it gave him a moment of panic because he didn’t know life _outside_ of it. At least Quincey had his writing, his ‘career’, but what did Tora have going on for himself? 

Poppy had a degree and a job, she had her father who loved her, and her friends. Now, she had him, she knew what she wanted from life for the most part, and now... What did he want from life? It was strange... to think that a door of opportunity was now opening for him and he didn’t know what he wanted to do, simply because he was used to following orders. 

“Tora?” 

He looked at Poppy who was looking at him in concern. “Yeah?” 

“You okay?” 

“I’m okay.” He assured her and she smiled back at him, her hands splayed over her belly protectively. Vince went to stand in front of Tora. 

“You were always my best man, Tora,” he started, and Tora wanted to scoff at that. He always made sure to tell him that, that he was his right-hand man, his best soldier, but at the same time, it would always come with a warning. _Any dog who disobeys his master will get shot._ It was a very fucked up way to live and a fucked up way that he’d messed with Tora’s mind for so long, almost twenty years of it. “I always knew I could trust you. If it wasn’t so, I wouldn’t have trusted you with Quincey’s life either. You never let me down, boy. I hope this is what you wanted, and I wish you the best. To you and Poppy both. Consider all that we’ve talked about done. I’ll have Shing write up your last paycheck and expect some time this week. You can transfer it and close your account after that.” 

“Thank you.” 

Vincent stared at Tora for a few more seconds before patting him on the shoulder and turning around to walk back to his desk. 

“It’s crazy cold outside, isn’t it?” he commented as he went to take his seat. “Hard to believe that it’s February. And almost Valentine’s Day to boot. Hopefully you have something nice planned for Poppy?” 

Tora gaped, while Quincey snickered next to him. He had nothing. He never was one to celebrate much, especially Valentine’s day. The first Valentine’s day that had passed while being together with Poppy he’d actually spent it away from her on a mission. She never mentioned anything. He hadn’t even celebrated his birthday before until Poppy decided it was worthy of celebration. 

“Uh. I’ll think of something,” he murmured as he caught Poppy’s eyes. She was smirking at him, the little shit. 

“He'll think of something,” Poppy repeated as she got to her feet. She bowed slightly towards Vincent. “Although, he shouldn’t worry. Every day is Valentine’s day with him. Thank you for having us, Sir. We’ll take our leave now.” 

“Alright. Take care, Miss Poppy. Keep us updated on your pregnancy, I’m sure Claire would love to know how you’re doing.” 

“Yes, sir. I will.” 

Poppy went over to take Tora’s hand and he started leading her out of the room, with Quincey at their heels. 

“Quinceton, please stay. I would like to talk to you about some things. I’ll have one of the men drive you back to your apartment.” Vince called after them. Tora and Poppy watched Quincey turn pale as he turned back to go sit in front of his father’s desk. 

“Will he be alright?” Poppy asked Tora as they made their way down the wide stairs to the lobby and out the house. 

“He’ll be fine.” 

“Okay.” 

Some of the men waved at Tora as they made their way down to their car. He didn’t say anything but gave them a wave back. He helped Poppy into the car and finally drove them home 

Poppy watched the way he was acting, somber and quieter than usual. She knew it must be hard for him to let it all go. He’d practically lived his whole life under the Balthuman clan life, under Vincent’s rules and orders. She had felt the same way when she’d moved out of her Dad’s house. She had imagined and planned all the ‘wild’ things she would do once she was on her own with no one to tell her anything, but once she had moved, everything had been completely different. 

Not only had she ended up single the first week into the city, she’d been heartbroken and confused, and utterly scared shitless after she’d ran into Tora in the train station and he’d taken her picture. She thought about how unbelievable everything sounded, the way she’d met Tora, her _husband,_ and people would probably never believe her if she told them the story. Now, she understood it was all meant to be. It was fate. It was their destiny to meet again and fall in love, start over from where they’d left off as children. 

“What are you going to do now?” she asked Tora as he drove them down the highway. He let out a short laugh and shook his head but kept his eyes on the road. 

“I have absolutely no fucking idea,” he said. “I’ve never been completely free to do anything. Even on my days off, I always had something going on. Like, surviving. There was always something going on with Quincey or Alice, or Ronzo. I am... scared shitless and confused as fuck as to what’s going to happen next,” he confessed and finally looked at her. She held on to his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“Well, maybe you can focus on the baby? I know it’s probably not the best idea around, but it’ll keep your mind off of things,” she said with a shy smile. 

“Bobby, if you ever assume that I don’t care about that baby, I will have to punish you,” Tora said with a low growl that had her eyebrows rising. “Of course, it’s no problem to worry and focus on that little potato inside you.” 

She started giggling softly, then louder, until finally she was plain laughing. He looked at her in amusement. 

“What?” 

“Are we just going to assume this is a food baby?” she asked, and he frowned at her. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“Well, it seems we’re always calling it different food related names. Little nugget, little dumpling, tiny olive, baby cherry, lil’ blueberry... Little potato!” She started laughing again until she started tearing up. “Oh, jeez. I’m going to pee.” 

“Cute,” Tora said, but grinned either way. “We can call it Lil’ Hamster if you want.” 

“Mini Tiger?” she added and giggled. “Let’s move on to the animal kingdom now.” 

“Mini Tora...” Tora said more to himself than to her and she noticed. She smiled at how pleased her looked. He would never tell her that he was pleased with that, but she knew. 

“Or Mini Poppy, could go either way,” she commented, and she wondered if it would make any difference whether the baby was a boy or a girl. He looked at her, his eyes bright. “Could be a girl, too.” 

“A mini you...” he murmured with a smile. “Alright. I like the sound of that.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah.” He turned back to watching the road and Poppy held his hand all the way home. Her heart was brimming with happiness and love for this man. It was the beginning of the rest of their lives, and she was so happy she could cry... 

............................. 

**_A couple_** weeks later, Tora had surprised Poppy yet again. 

“Because we’re now going to be three, we’re going to need more space,” he said as she watched him with wide eyes. “I’ve found an apartment that I think you will like. There’s a house in the list, if you want that, too. What do you say?” 

She’d dropped the spoon in her hand and thrown herself at him, hugging him tightly. 

“Are you serious!? We’re finding a new place?” she squealed as she hugged him. He grinned at the way her belly poked against his own. “I’m so excited! Thank you, Tora! I love you!” She’d dragged his head down and planted a hot kiss on his lips. 

Tora tried to be nice. Tried to keep his hands to himself, but he was a man and he hadn’t been with her in a couple months. First, because he was all fucked up and his ribs were messed up, she hadn’t wanted to hurt him. Then, because she had started showing and he’d freaked out at the thought that he could hurt her. Everything they’d been doing in between was mostly hand and mouth stuff. It wasn’t that he hated the taste of her in his mouth—he loved it—or that he didn’t like the feel of his lips around him, but there was just so much that he could take. 

In the past, he’d gone months, even a year at some point, without having sex with anyone. But it was different now. He had a wife, fucking curvy Poppy whose body had taken a turn for the better, and she’d only gotten curvier in a good way. He couldn’t keep himself from groping her any chance he got; sometimes they’d be sitting on the couch watching something on TV and his hands would slide down to her breasts, and soon they’d be all over each other. 

He wasn’t a fucking saint and he wanted to fuck his wife. 

But... he was also worried he’d hurt the baby somehow considering the difference in their body sizes and he wasn’t no small man. 

He groaned and dragged her closer to his body as he deepened the kiss. When he finally lifted his head up, she was flushed and breathing hard. 

“Tora?” 

“I want to fuck you.” 

“Oh!” She blushed deeper and bit her lip. She knew it had been a while, and she would have to say it had been way too long. Tora leaned down and took her lips again, biting over the lip she had been biting before. 

“Poppy, we don’t have to, if you don’t want to--” 

“Of course, I want to! I mean...” She laughed shakily at the outburst while Tora smirked at her. “It’s been so long... And...” 

His brow furrowed as he dropped his forehead to hers. “I’m worried I will hurt the baby. You’re so itty bitty, and I'm fucking big and horny as hell. It’s been too long. I love the little chipmunk, but it’s been too fucking long.” 

All Poppy could do was cling to Tora as he said those words and feel the tingle between her legs turn into a full-blown fire. She wanted her husband as well. 

“Well, I actually went ahead and spoke to my OB this week,” Poppy started as she played with the collar of his shirt, “And I asked him if it was safe to have sex during pregnancy,” Tora had to grin at that because he could only imagine how it had gone down—with Poppy bright red and stammering as she asked the doctor about it. “He said the baby should be fine, to think about the sac as a cushion of sorts. That it’s inside and away from the, uh, birth canal... So, it should be fine. Just as long as we don’t get too crazy.” She said all this as she stared at the same spot on his shirt. When Tora didn’t reply, she looked up at him. “Tora?” 

“Thank fuck!” 

She squealed when he picked her up and carried her into their room. He dropped her carefully onto the mattress, coming over her (while trying to keep his full weight off her), so he could kiss her. She moaned loudly when he dragged her top over her head and pulled her bra down, immediately going for her nipples. 

“Not too hard, Tora!” she gasped, and he pulled back, “I’m sorry. They’re sensitive.” 

“Okay.” He sat back and threw his booted leg off the side of the bed. That stupid foot was still mending and he had to keep the stupid boot on for a bit more. He crawled further up into the bed until he was able to rest his back against the headboard. “Come here, sweetheart,” he told her as he settled onto the pillows there. 

Poppy nodded. She threw her bra off to the side and dragged her leggings off as she went over to kneel in front of Tora. He pulled her close, so she kneeled between his legs as his hands cradled her head and he kissed her hard. She murmured happily against his lips, her own arms around him, running her fingers through his hair that was slowly, but surely making its way back to its previous length. 

“Poppy, Poppy...” he murmured against her lips, her neck, her breasts as he licked his way to a turgid nipple to suck on it. Her breasts, fuck, her breasts had only gotten bigger now that she was pregnant. Her hips were slightly curvier, her face brighter, and her hormones were all over the place, but definitely had made her hornier than before. It didn’t take long for her to jump him if he ever so much as glance her way. 

“Oh, yes! Tora! Oh my god, right there!” she squealed as his hands dropped to her butt, to caress, to squeeze, and she gave a throaty groan when he gave her one single smack on her butt cheek. He slid one of his hands down the curve of one globe and slipped his finger to her hot pussy from behind. She couldn’t help herself and tried to push back against his finger. 

“You’re so hot, Poppy. Damn! Fuck, you’re so wet,” he gritted as her hands slid down his chest, stopping to pinch his nipples before trekking down across his abs to find the bulge beneath his sweatpants. “Touch me, touch me, love!” 

Poppy pulled at the ties on his sweatpants and dragged his pants down enough to free his erection. She sat back and pulled down her panties, quickly kicking them off to the side. Tora had to laugh at that because she was probably more needy than he was. She climbed back over his lap and threw her legs around his waist. 

“Tora, Tora!” she panted as she quickly settled herself over his hard cock, making sure to slide her pussy over the shaft. He gritted his teeth and watched her dazed eyes. She held him with one hand and pressed down, making him groan. “Oh, god! Tora! Fuuuck... You feel so good!” 

“Fuck. Damn Poppy!” He gasped as she began to move her hips. Not a lot surprised Tora, but this, Poppy slamming her hips over his and taking him all the way, really surprised him. She was really, really turned on. He hadn’t seen her this turned on since the first time they did it in the shower. 

“Tora, oh god! I’m coming, I'm coming!” she gasped and threw her arms back around his neck and kissed him. Hips slapping together, teeth clashing, she sucked at his tongue when he pushed it between her lips to taste her. Dropping his hands to her hips, he moved her against him until she screamed against his lips and he felt her walls clench around him. With her body shuddering, he pulled out of her and turned her over so she rested on her hands and knees. “Oh, Tora!” 

“Fucking hell, Poppy!” he rasped as he slammed back home. With his hands on her hips, he pushed and pushed until he felt his balls hurting with the need to come inside her. It’d been so fucking long without her clenching and the feel of her pussy sucking him out that he knew he wouldn’t last. It hadn’t been ten minutes and she had already come hard. She was squealing now, her body shimmering with a layer of sweat as she tried to push back against him. 

He pulled her up against him, still moving from beneath, holding on to her breasts as he tweaked and pulled her nipples. She moaned hard, throwing her arms up and back so she could hold on to him. “Are you still okay?” he panted into her ear and she nodded. 

“Yes! I’m fine... Ah! I’m fine! Tora!” she squealed again when he gave her a few hard pumps. 

He dragged one of his hands down and caressed her belly softly, tenderly. “Look at this... Fucking pregnant with my baby. I love you, I fucking love you, Poppy!” he whispered into her ear and he watched her shiver slightly. 

“Yes! I love you, Tora!” Poppy cried out as she dropped one of her hands over his on her stomach. “I love you so much, it hurts!” She gasped when he pulled out and turned her again so she laid on her back. “What?” 

“I want to look at you when you come again,” he said roughly. He pulled her until her hips were closed to the edge of the bed. “I want to see your beautiful face looking at me!” 

He probably sounded a little crazy, but it was just how he was feeling. She drove him crazy—both good and bad—and he would never get tired of her. She was his fucking life, every breath he took, and the first thing on his mind in the morning when he woke up. Holding her thighs open, he sunk back into her, making her moan and grab at the sheets on the bed. 

“You drive me crazy! Your body...” thrust thrust, “Is mine! All mine...” She nodded and kept gasping, trying to catch her breath. He was about to cum, he could feel it in his bones, his blood on fire, he tried to keep his hands on her hips loose so that he didn’t clench too hard and hold her. “You’re fucking beautiful, so beautiful! Poppy, Poppy...Argh! Poppy!” He dropped one hand between them, to her hard little clit and pressed. He rubbed at the little bundle of nerves there as he rocked against her until he felt her start shaking again, and suddenly she came hard, crying out, her back arching. The sight of her back arching and the way that her voice filled the room got to him.... He slammed against her a couple more times before he came inside her as well, feeling as if part of his soul came into her as well. 

“Tora...” she shivered when he dropped onto the bed next to her, his arm over her waist. He turned his sweaty face to hers and grinned at her, his wide smile making her heart clench inside her. His golden eyes twinkled in mischief as he looked at her. “I love you.” 

He shuffled closer to her and turned so that he could slide his arm under her, and she could rest against him. He kissed her, this time softly, “I love you, too, Poppylan.” He moved the hand that he had over her waist to place it over her belly. “And this little kid, too.” Poppy nodded at him and smiled, putting her hand over his on her belly. 

“And the little kid, too,” she grinned. “Baby goat or human kid?” 

“Whichever one, they act the same either way,” Tora chuckled with a shrug. “That’s what Alice would always tell me and Quincey. That we acted like goats.” 

“You guys were terrible,” Poppy pointed out with a giggle. 

“And you liked it. Since you always followed us around.” 

“I was bored and there weren’t a lot of girls to play with.” 

“You just like me too much is all,” Tora chuckled and Poppy rolled her eyes at him. 

“Alright, alright.” Poppy said. “I’m sleepy.” 

“My penis rattled your brain,” Tora said with a grin, “Was it that good?” 

“You know it,” Poppy smiled with a yawn. He could tell that she was getting sleepy, so he pulled her against him and held her until she closed her eyes and fell asleep. And even after she was sleeping, he continued to hold her and cradle her rounded belly in his big hand... 

“Little Tiger,” he mused, “I’m going to make sure that you have everything I never did... A family, love... A good father.” He felt his throat tighten in emotion, as he thought back to the nine-year-old boy crying over a casket for the mother he knew he would never see again. 

The ten-year-old crying over being the only clan kid without parents, over being the only kid whose parents didn’t show up to Parent-Teacher conferences... the lonely kid watching Quincey being hugged by his mother... 

Claire would try to hug him, but Tora pushed her away again and again. She was not his mother. HIs mother was gone. His father was gone. He was just another clan kid who would eventually grow up into a clan man... 

And now... He held Poppy tightly to him, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and covered their unborn baby with his hand protectively. 

Never again. Everything would be different. Everything would be good, and he would be there for Poppy and he would be there for his kid. He would be there for any other child that they happened to make, and he would be there for Alice and Quincey. 

They would no longer have to worry about him not coming home, because for once in his life... for the first time since he’d laid his eyes on Poppy... he finally was home. 

….......... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellllooo beautiful people!  
> The rollercoaster is coming to an end, but fear not!  
> there is still one chapter left in this story.  
> Because obviously we still don't know what the chipmunk, hamster, tiger, nugget baby will actually turn out to be.
> 
> I thought about ending it here, but I got a couple ideas in my head while washing the dishes earlier, that I decided it should be it's own chapter... with a short look into their future years down the road....
> 
> Or a whole different story with Poppy and Tora and their grown kids?? What do you guys think? I have an idea, but I'm not sure how to go about it. 0_0.
> 
> Anyways, sorry for the wait. Hope y'all enjoyed it ;)  
> ...  
> Also, you can follow find me on TAPAS: Nurse Amethyst for the stories-
> 
> "The Thin Line Between Hate and Love" and the story in progress "Soul on Fire".
> 
> Thank you!


	18. The Beginning of Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it. What Tora had always only dreamed of, a family. And kids.  
> Possibly a look into forever, away from the Balthuman circle.  
> This is it, the beginning of forever for him.  
> ...................
> 
> ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO LILYDUSK FOR HER WEBCOMIC "MIDNIGHT POPPY LAND" ON WEBTOON.  
> FOLLOW HER ON PATREON FOR AWESOME GOODIES ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay- Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories  
> Hallelujah- Jeff Buckley  
> Sea of Love- Cat Power  
> .  
> JUST A GIRL- No Doubt  
> BUBBLEGUM BITCH- Marina  
> CRUSH- Jennifer Paige  
> .  
> PAST LIVES- BoRNS.

…..

 **“If** I see that stupid smirk of yours one more time, I swear Tora, I will throw something at you!”

Tora looked away as he tried to hide his grin. He had been watching Poppy struggling to put on her shoes for the last thirty minutes. Oh, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t already offered to help her with it, because he had—except she was in a grumpy mood and told him she didn’t need his help.

Between bouts of quickies on the couch and surprise blowjobs (now that her gag reflex was back to what it was before), Poppy’s favorite past times seemed to be crying, snacking, screaming at Tora, and spending time in the bathroom since her bladder had apparently been stuck into a corner somewhere inside to make room for the growing baby. It amused Tora greatly to see her carrying around a bottle of water to ‘keep hydrated’ even though he knew she’d just pee it out in no time.

He made sure to never point out something she might just be doing wrong because the last time he’d made the joke that ‘cereal went in before the milk’ into her bowl, she’d started crying and for some insane reason she’d said that he had just been calling her a cow. How she got to that conclusion, he would never know, but he blamed it on her wild hormones and the tiny human growing inside her who’d taken residence like an alien from the movie.

That joke had earned him another bout of screaming from her part and he’d had to sleep on the couch for a week.

“I’m not smirking. I offered to help you, but you refused,” Tora tried to explain. He was at the point where he wasn’t sure who was scarier: Vincent Balthuman or Poppy… And he concluded it was probably the latter since he could always figure Vincent out.

“If you offered to help me without first teasing me about it, then maybe I’d gladly accept your assistance. But you like to laugh at me first!” Poppy exclaimed indignantly. “Considering you took part in getting me this way, the least you could do is help me.”

Tora stared at her. Okay. Deep breath, ignore. She’s pregnant. Hormonal.

“But Poppy, I _offered_ to help you.” He watched her huff and cross her arms, making her already exquisite looking breasts plump up even more over the ‘V’ of her top.

“Yeah, what help!”

“Now, you’re just being mean,” Tora muttered. There was only so much he could take. There were times where he wondered if he was better off—and saner—being back in the clan than here. At least there, everyone was scared of him and respected him. He ran a hand over his hair and down his face with a sigh. “Please, look, I’m sorry. I apologize. Please, let me help you put your shoes on. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Two ‘please’ in a sentence. Who would’ve thought he’d ever have this sort of conversation?

“What? You think I can’t get these shoes on myself?” she asked in another huff. If she wouldn’t get mad at him some more, he would’ve laughed.

“Alright, you do you. I’ll be in the living room minding my own business.” Tora got his phone and headed out leaving Poppy behind with a confused look on her face.

“Fine! You just watch.”

**She** could _not_ get her shoes on by herself.

Poppy sat on the corner of the bed as she attempted to pull the back side of her shoes up, but the stupid shoes wouldn’t budge. She already had to wear soft slip ones because her feet had done that stupid ‘pregnant swelling’ and she had cankles; her breasts were huge, she didn’t fit into her older bras, she couldn’t sleep on her back, she couldn’t even have normal sex with Tora anymore—thank God he was a freaking giant, otherwise she would squash him—and she couldn’t even put on her damn shoes.

She wanted to cry. She’d already tried using those long stupid sticks that were supposed to make it easier for her to put her shoes on, and it was easier said than done. She threw the stupid plastic sticks away.

Alice and Claire had assured her that it was only temporary, and that it was normal, all pregnant women would go through similar experiences—not everyone was the same—but they all dealt with it one way or another. Claire had brought Poppy some cream that was supposed to help her with stretch marks among a couple other ‘baby safe’ skin care products, while Alice was her snack provider.

Her Dad and Quincey (along with Vincent apparently, from far away) had sided with Tora that she was being a little Momzilla. She hadn’t seen her Dad in about three months and he kept giving her the excuse that he was busy with work even though Quincey had slipped and revealed that he was _scared_ of her. Apparently, Tora and Quincey had monthly meetings with her Dad to play fucking pool. Ugh.

Sure, she appreciated everything they did for her—it was nice having a united front that seemed to bend to her every whim and will, but there were days that… there were days that she missed her mom.

All the supportive women in her life, from Erdene to Claire, and she wanted the one that had no way to see…

Her eyes got teary and her nose got stuffy and pretty soon, Poppy found herself crying in her room. That’s how Tora found her when he came back into the room to check on her.

“Aww, shit. What’s wrong? I’m sorry, I didn’t me—”

“I want my mother,” Poppy replied in a soft, shaky voice as she looked at him. That stopped him right in his tracks as she stared at her. That was different. He sat next to her and threw his arm around her, pulling her to his body so she could press her teary face into his shirt.

Between angry and crying, he’d rather have her screaming at him. It really bugged him to see her crying since he didn’t know how to make her feel better.

“Why are you crying?” He asked her, feeling her tighten her arms around him—as much as her belly would allow her anyways.

“It’s stupid. These hormones are not helping me at all!” she said as she blew her nose into a tissue that Tora handed her. “I was just thinking about how it sucks that I can’t even put my own damn shoes on, I have cankles, and I am fat!”

“You’re _pregnant_ , sweetheart. There’s a difference,” Tora mused as he patted her on the back.

“It sucks. I can’t drink water since it apparently just goes straight through me! I spend so much time in the bathroom, I could tell you how many squared tiles there are on the ceiling. My skin is slightly itchy, my boobs are huge, and I just want my mom…” she finished, her voice trembling. She started crying again and sunk her face against his chest.

“Ah, Bobby,” Tora said softly as he hugged her. “I wish I could help you with that one.”

“I know. I’m just being ridiculous!” she pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m sorry for being such a bitch to you.”

“You’re not a bitch.”

“I Know I’m not. Usually. Just these last couple months,” she replied and rested her head against his shoulder. “Growing a baby is not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.”

“Hmm. You’re getting pretty close,” Tora mumbled and she nodded at him.

“Yup. Thirty-five weeks this week. I can’t believe it!” Poppy pulled back again and looked up at her husband…. _Husband_.. Hehe… It sounded so weird, but at the same time, it pleased her when some witchy woman tried to hit on him and she’d be like, ‘oh heeeeey hubby’ while the other woman would stare at her and big ol’ belly in surprise. She pouted for a second and looked away.

“What, Bobby?”

“What if I’m not a good mother, Tora?”

That thought had plagued her for a while. She didn’t have a mother, she had Alice and Claire and her Dad. Alice was the ‘tough love’ kind of mother, while Claire was more lovey-dovey with Quincey, but yet, she had her faults—that Tora had confided in Poppy one time about her love affairs—but Quincey loved her either way… Her Dad was dad… Overprotective and caring, a little crazy at times… What kind of mother would she be?

“Bobby, you’re kind, caring and understanding. You deal with me quite well and don’t let me get away with stupid shit. You’re going to be a great mother,” Tora said with a grunt. She was worried? What about him? He was terrified even if he didn’t say it. An ex-assassin, clan member with a dark past didn’t seem like the greatest achievements for a future father. He didn’t grow up with parents to guide him, except for Alice to keep him off the streets, and Claire who tried to provide care, but for the most part, he’d been alone.

He didn’t even know he was fucking capable of caring for someone, _loving_ someone, until Poppy came along. Would he even know _how_ to love his kids? Would they love him back as well? He wasn’t the friendliest, or cuddliest, or the most conversationalist, so how would he get along with his kid?

“You’re doing it again.”

Tora blinked and looked at Poppy. “What?”

“You’re doubting yourself,” she pointed out and hugged him again.

“I’m not doubting myself on any—”

“Tora, your face had panic written all over it.” She brought his head down for a kiss, and added, “You’re going to be a great father, Tora. You’re caring—”

“I’m not—”

“You care for me.”

“I _love_ you.”

“And care for me, otherwise, you wouldn’t be concerned about me not being to put my shoes on. Or feeding me. Or asking me why I’m crying.” Poppy smiled and rubbed her hand over his shirt, over his stomach. “You’re trustworthy and protective. Now, let me explain that part before you say no. Ronzo cares for you, you’re his aniki, and you care for him as well. Otherwise you wouldn’t have thought of him when talking with Vincent. Alice trusts you to do what’s right, and you know how she doesn’t trust or believe a lot of people. And there’s Quincey, too. You’ve protected him all his life. If it was just a job, he wouldn’t be part of your life at all. They all trust you with their lives and you know that you wouldn’t let anything happen to them.”

Tora grunted in response, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.

“How do you do that? It’s eerie how easy you can read my face…”

“Because I love you, too.”

“Hmm.”

Tora said nothing else and just kept hugging her.

“You’re going to be a great mother, Bobby,” he said finally and she looked at him. “If you doubt yourself, think about what your mother would do for you when you were a girl. Or your Dad. Maybe they kept a couple secrets from you… But, your mother even cared for _me_. If you ever doubt yourself, just remember all the good things she ever did and you know you’ll be just fine.”

With trembling lips and teary eyes, Poppy nodded at him. That was perhaps one of the sweetest things he’d ever told her, and that’s with him saying he wasn’t caring.

“Alright…”

“Yup.”

“Tora?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you put my shoes on, please?” Poppy asked with a blush. He grinned at her, gave her a kiss, and kneeled in front of her.

“Alright, Miss Grumpy-Pants.”

“ _Mrs_. Grumpy-Pants. Since you know, we’re married and all.” She grinned back at him and let him pull her to her feet when he was done.

“Okay, enough of your sassafras mouth. Let’s go find some food, I’m hungry.”

…

 **“Do do do**... Look at you guys, getting so big!” Poppy told her plants as she watered them. She had the tendency to talk to them whenever she was tending to them, and Tora would tease her whenever he saw her doing so, but she had explained that talking to them helped them grow. He’d stared at her like she was crazy, but let her carry on with it, considering how the plants did appear to be growing bigger from the first time he saw them.

“Oof!” Poppy stopped for a second and patted her stomach, trying to stretch her back slightly when she felt a pinch. She glanced around and saw Tora was busy typing something up on her laptop and didn’t notice her jump slightly. He got so engrossed in what he was doing sometimes that the house could catch on fire and he wouldn’t notice.

Oh, yeah. They had found a house they liked—with enough rooms to fill with twenty kids, is what Tora had said—with enough room for themselves and the baby to live in comfortably. What she loved the most about it was the big kitchen with its tall, wide windows that oversaw the backyard. Tora didn’t tell her how much it cost, but he did mention not to worry about it; It wasn’t until some time later that he had confided that it had been partly a wedding gift from Vincent and Claire who wanted to give them a parting gift, as well as a ‘no hard feeling’ gift for Tora’s leaving the clan work.

Poppy placed a hand on her hip and waddled over to the sink to drop the watering can in there when she felt another slight pinch stab her in the side. She tried to think about what she’d learn in those birthing classes—front contractions fake, back contractions real. Was it? She hoped so. With that in mind, she went back to cleaning things around the kitchen, putting plates back into the cupboards, cups, utensils. She’d already gone through her bedroom and the baby’s nursery, making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be when she needed it.

Tora had thought she was exaggerating when she had pulled everything out of the closet and then fixed it and shoved it right back. He only watched her and let her do what she wanted because it was easier that way. The only thing he did was offer assistance when he thought she needed help, although she would sometimes remind him that she had beat the crap out of Scharch while pregnant, so he shouldn’t worry too much.

She was deep in thought and didn’t notice Tora studying her until he called her name, pulling her out of her reverie.

“Bobby?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you alright over there?” He watched his short wife blink confusedly and pat her stomach. Her belly was so round it was sometimes hard to hug her properly, but they managed. It was strange to see her go from just being short and curvy to short and VERY curvy.

“Yeah. Just thinking.”

He motioned for her to go over to him and he took her hands in his, pulling her close so that she stood between his open legs. “Okay?” She smiled and squeezed his shoulders, letting her hands ride up his neck to tease his hair.

“Yeah. Just had a pinching feeling over my stomach, so was trying to figure out if that was normal,” she explained calmly as she massaged his scalp. His eyes which he had just let close snapped right back open.

“Wait what? Are you having contractions?” She could hear the momentary panic in his voice and the way his golden eyes flared with worry. “Poppy!”

“It’s not contractions. Believe me, I would know.”

“How? You’ve never been pregnant before!” Tora scowled when she grinned at him. “Don’t give me that shitty grin. This is serious!”

“I know. Oh my god, Tora. Ha-ha,” she shook her head at him and hugged his neck. “Believe me, I _will_ know. Both Claire and Alice said that’s the way that things are. Call it... womanly intuition, if you will.”

“Womanly intuition? When Alice had Joe, dinosaurs still roamed the Earth and Claire had Quincey a good thirty years ago!” Tora said and Poppy had to roll her eyes at him.

“You’re not even thirty and Quincey is younger than you. Tora, it’s okay. I'm fine. If I thought something was wrong, I would let you know.” She gave him a kiss on his cheek and tried to step back but he wouldn’t budge. He studied her face, searching for something.

With a sigh, he let his head dropped onto her shoulder. Thank goodness for her short height and his tall giant frame because he could sit down and still be the same height as her. “I trust you. I’m just... This is new territory and I know shit-squat about babies.”

Sensing his internal conflict, Poppy cradled his face in her hands and tilted his head back to kiss him. He was quick to deepen it and she murmured against his lips. “As much as I love you when you’re all concerned for me, I also want you to calm down. You're going to make yourself sick with stress.”

“Hmm.”

“Now, come on. I need you to help me with something,” she smiled and pulled back again, except he had dropped his hands to her behind and didn’t budge. “Come on, Tora. We can do that later. I need help with something.”

“I can’t change your mind?” he murmured against her neck and she grinned.

“ _After_.”

“Ugh. Fine. You’re so demanding.” He gave her bottom a quick pat and stood up, following her. “What do you need help with?”

“Can you pull the plates from the top shelf? I want to make space for baby bottles.”

“Didn’t we do this last week?” Tora groaned and Poppy nodded.

“Yeah, but Erdene sent me this cute set of bottles, so I want to keep them nearby.”

“Bah.” Tora grunted, but started pulling things off the shelf either way.

**...Two days later... **

Tora woke up to the feeling of Poppy climbing out of bed. He was used to it, since she was in the bathroom a lot lately, but this was different. It felt different.

And he was right because he found himself laying next a puddle where she slept in.

“Poppy?” he called out in a hurry when he noticed it had a tinge of color to it.

“I’m in the bathroom!” she called back and he hurried over. She was leaning against the corner, holding an arm to her back. “Hello.”

“There is a giant wet mark on the bed...” he started as his eyes raked over her body for signs of pain or distress.

“Yeah, about that,” she raised her eyes to his and gave him a shaky smile. “I think my water just broke...”

“WHAT!?”

“Water, broken. Baby coming.”

“Poppy!” Tora rushed back to the room for his phone and sent Quincey, Alice, Claire, Erdene, and Robert a group message, _‘WATER BROKE, WILL TAKE POPPY TO HOSP NOW.’_ He came back into the bathroom and helped Poppy back to sit on the side of the bed. He was trying to remember all the things they needed—her bag, her wallet, messaged her OB, messaged their friends...

“Tora!” His eyes snapped back to her as she sat rigidly on the side of the bed. “Calm down, love. I’m still okay...” she trailed off as a contraction hit her and had her gritting her teeth through it.

“Yeah, like hell you are. Come on, we’re going to the hospital right now.” Tora went over to the closet and pulled out a hoodie and dragged on some jeans. He handed her a loose top and the only pair of leggings that fit her. He helped her into some shoes and grabbed her bags, going to drop them off into the car and coming back for her. He stared at her as he found her going through another contraction. “Aren’t those coming in too close to each other now?”

“Yeaah...”

“Poppy...”

“Okay, fine. I’ve been having contractions since yesterday. I didn’t tell you anything because you worry, and my water broke some time ago. Okay.” She huffed and watched him rake his hands through his hair nervously. “Please don’t be mad.”

“Well, doesn’t matter now.” He sighed and helped her to her feet. “Come on. We gotta go NOW.”

**Two** hours later and Tora wasn’t so sure he would ever want another kid.

He'd looked on as Poppy got poked and prodded, IV placed in her hand, the nurses dragging her clothes on to leave her in a hospital gown, and now she was standing by the window, bent over slightly as she breathed through another contraction... Gone was the sweet and sassy Poppy he knew and angry Bobby remained.

He went to stand next to her and placed a hand over her back, just so she knew he was there, but didn’t say anything else since he already tried that and she’d snapped at him.

When it was over, she finally stood up straight and leaned against Tora, her cheeks red and a sheen of sweat over her forehead.

“Oh, god. Remind me to never forget to take my pills,” she told Tora with a tired smile. He laughed shakily and held her.

“Your dad picked up Alice and they’re on their way here.”

“I hope they don’t let anyone in here. I don’t want anyone else looking up my vagina if they don’t have to!” Poppy announced. “Please, tell the nurses that I only want you here.”

“Okay. I will.”

**Four** hours later, Tora was ready to pull his hair out.

Poppy was now just a cursing mess and didn’t miss the chance to cuss him out. He had never seen her that angry before, even during all these months, and frankly, it scared the shit out of him. The nurses had helped her back into bed and had already propped her legs into the stirrups, and Tora looked on mildly embarrassed for her and relieved that it meant it was getting closer to having a baby in their hands.

One of the nurses handed him a cup of ice chips for him to feed Poppy, who now resembled a tomato and had loose hair sticking to her sweaty forehead, and he wondered how ice would help her at all in this situation.

“She’s sweating and otherwise losing fluids, we want to keep her hydrated,” the nurse pointed out at his confused look, and he simply nodded and tried to give Poppy the ice chips to munch on so she would stop muttering at him. “And it helps with the muttering,” the nurse said in passing afterwards with a wink.

**Finally** , one hour after that, Poppy was deemed ready for pushing when her OB came into the room to check on her.

Tora watched from next to Poppy’s side where he held her hand as everything seemed to slow down. He’d been in all sorts of dangerous situations, bloody situations, scary and plain out disturbing, but nothing had prepared him for watching Poppy’s face gritted in pain as she clenched his hand and pushed when the doctor instructed her to.

She briefly glanced over at him in a second of rest and he saw the tears in her eyes. Tears and exhaustion, but she didn’t mention anything about it. She was trying to be tough, to be strong, and to not make such a big deal out of this, he knew... But... This _was_ a big deal. She was literally pushing a baby out, her baby...

 _His_ baby.

He was so nervous he didn’t even feel the pain of her clenching his fingers so hard. Nothing could possibly be as painful as what he saw written on her face.

And finally, after what seemed like forever and an eternity of pushing from Poppy’s end, Tora felt his heart pounding when a cry broke the silence he had been drowning on inside his mind, and he stared with wide eyes when the doctor held up a bloody, squirming, crying baby in his hands.

“Congratulations! It’s a girl,” the doctor announced as the nurses took the baby to weigh and measure...

And Tora knew, his life would never be the same.

..

 **Poppy** hadn’t stopped crying, even after they’d placed the baby on her chest to hold. She’d stared at the baby with wide eyes and started crying again. Tora looked down at the squirming infant that seemed to be trying to dig itself onto Poppy’s chest and laughed... Because the baby was frowning, her tiny mouth pouting. Her hair was dark brown, almost black and when she opened her eyes briefly, he saw his own staring back at him.

“Holy shit...” he said with a nervous laugh as he raked his still shaking hands through his hair and stared at his wife and... kid.

“Don’t be rude.” Poppy sniffled when she heard him, and she cradled the baby to her chest. “No cursing around the baby.” She studied the baby, all ten tiny toes and ten tiny fingers that clutched her thumb hard. She started giggling and looked at Tora. “She’s a mini you, Tora. Look at how angry she looks!”

Tora nodded and grinned, his heart pounding, and he wondered briefly if he was going to start crying. He was going to start crying. Shit.

“Want to hold her?”

“I...”

“You’re not going to drop her. You could probably even hold her in one of your giant hands and she’d be fine,” Poppy pointed out as she looked at her dark-haired baby with her golden eyes. Tora hesitated only a moment before he leaned over Poppy to take the baby in his arms.

“Wow.” He mumbled. It was surreal, like a dream, that this tiny human had been inside Poppy only a couple minutes before, and now she was here. Her weight felt good in his hands, and his heart clenched once more as he studied her. Through teary eyes, he laughed and looked over at Poppy. “This one's going to be a handful, for real. I can already tell!” he said when the baby whimpered angrily that he was trying to pull his finger back from her grasp.

“This one? You’re speaking as if we’re going to have a bunch more,” Poppy snorted and gave him a look. “Give me a couple years before I decide to do this again. I’m exhausted!”

“That’s fine,” Tora mumbled and wasn’t paying attention to her anymore since he was back to staring at his baby girl... And just like that, his heart was stolen once more

** …A couple years later… **

**He** had been right about his daughter being a handful.

The girl, whom they’d named Lani (after his mother and her mother’s nickname for Poppy), took their life by storm. She was four years old when Tora had to buy her first helmet since she had a knack for crashing into things. Tora blamed Poppy’s genetics.

She was six when she climbed into a tree after trying to get a damn cat out a branch and nearly cracked her head open. Tora blamed Poppy for that one again and said she’d taken after her, obviously. She was seven when Poppy had her second baby, this time a boy who seemed to take after both Tora and her. He had brown hair like Poppy, same coloring, but the face was like looking at Tora himself. Quite the opposite to Tora, however, he was more like Poppy in his personality and annoyed his older sister with his jokes and the way he could read her moods.

Lani was twelve and Bobby (Robert after her father) was five when Poppy had her third and last child, another girl who resembled Poppy completely, except for her eyes which seemed to have a glow to them much like Tora’s and her siblings. And even if he denied it, Poppy knew that little Lily had a very special spot in her father’s heart.... She was a caring child, sweet, and loving. She loved to make her dad laugh and loved when her Grandpa Robert visited because he would bring her all the stuffed cat toys she liked.

Lani loved her Grandpa Robert because he taught her how to box and Bobby preferred to hang out with Grandma Alice because she had the best jokes and would let him eat anything in sight.

**...Seventeen years later...**

**“Lani** got sent home again, Tora.”

Tora glanced at his daughter sitting a few chairs down the dinner table. She was seventeen, a Senior in high school, and still causing as much chaos as possible as she could without getting in trouble. She was smart, excelled in her courses, so her teachers were more lenient on her than other students. Except this was the second time she’d gotten sent home this school year and it was barely a month in.

“What did you do _now_?” he asked his daughter who frowned and slouched in her chair.

“I punched Leo Bartinellio in the face,” she groused as she crossed her arms.

“Why?” Her temper sometimes reminded Tora of himself as a teen.

“Because he tried to kiss me, that’s why.”

Tora raised his eyebrows at that and looked over at Poppy who sighed.

“I know, but I think you might have broken his nose, baby,” Poppy said and Lani groaned. “Couldn’t you have hit him somewhere else like—”

“His crotch!” Bobby commented loudly, and Tora snickered.

“His peepee!” Four year-old Lily agreed happily from her spot at the table. Poppy looked at Tora who was looking very amused.

“No. I was thinking more along the lines of maybe his stomach?” Poppy finished as she gave her other two kids a look.

“He didn’t try to kiss me with his crotch or stomach, but his _mouth_ , so that’s where I punched him,” Lani explained. “Except my hand slipped and ended in his nose.” Leo had tried to move his face to avoid her punch and completely reacted stupidly, trying to dodge down instead of off to the side.

“Okay, okay.” Poppy sighed again. “Tora?”

“Okay, here’s the deal, sweetheart. If you’re going to hurt someone, don’t _break_ anything. If it’s self-defense, I can’t get mad at you. But your mother has a point, this is your last year and we don’t want some idiot messing it up for you. You’re smart, thank god you took after Poppy, and I know you’re going places. So, maybe punch him in the gut next time,” Tora finished and glanced back at Poppy who shrugged.

“Fine.” Lani didn’t look too convinced...

..

“ **She’s** starting to get hit on,” Poppy commented later that night as they were getting ready for bed. Tora who was in the process of pulling his shirt off, stopped and stared at her. “What? She’s not ugly. She's a very pretty girl, except she doesn’t think so. She dresses more like a boy, but that isn’t stopping the boys from noticing.”

“She can break their noses for all I care, horny little bastards,” Tora muttered. There was no way that some horny little asshat was going to be coming on to his baby girl any time soon. He knew how teenage boys were, he had been a teenage boy once, and there was no way in hell that they would hurt her. He’d make sure of that.

“Yeah, she can, but we want her to graduate, so let’s _not_ encourage that,” Poppy pointed out as he came to sit next to her. “It’s bound to happen. I don’t think she’s entirely into girls, since she did have a crush on that Oscar kid from sixth grade, but maybe she’s just not ready to be in a relationship. She can do whatever she likes as long as it doesn’t hurt her or others, don’t you think?”

“Or I hurt someone,” Tora grumbled and Poppy smacked him on the arm.

“Tora...”

“I knooow, no threatening other people.” Tora threw his arm around his petite wife and gave her a look. “So, since I'm not allowed to be threatening people and I'm good on my word, what do I get as my prize?”

Poppy raised an eyebrow at him. “What did you have in mind?”

Tora dipped his face to kiss her on her neck. “Well, the kids are over at Alice’s...they’ll be there the whole weekend... I'm really wanting to hear your screams, you know.” Poppy felt herself shivering as she turned to face him and throw her arms around his neck.

“Well, well, well, Mr. Tora, needy, are we?”

“Don’t lie, woman, you know you want this, too. It’s been a while since we had a good fuc—”

“Manners!”

“No one is even here,” Tora said with a scowl, while she looked confused. She realized what she’d said and started laughing.

“Sorry. Force of habit!” She threw herself at him and started pulling at his shirt. “Take this off, then.”

“Geez, you horny woman. You would think you’d had enough of me after all these years. Behave yourself.” Tora teased as he dragged his shirt over his head. For a man in his forties, Tora still looked good since he tried to keep working out to prevent himself from going crazy. He’d taken up running when Lani started high school and joined the cross-country team, so he ran with her as well.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Less talk, more action. Ooh!” She squealed when his hands found her bottom and he started kissing him soundly.

That was the last thing she said for a while.

….

“ **What’s** wrong, baby girl?”

Poppy was going down the hallway with a laundry basket when she heard sniffling coming from Lani’s room. She popped her head through the doorway and found the teenager face down crying on her pillow.

Lani lifted her head when she heard her mother and shook her head at her.

“You know, you can tell me anything.”

Lani sniffed and sat up, crossing her legs and looked at her mother.

“Homecoming is coming up,” she started as her mother nodded, “And I just heard the stupidest shit ever!”

“Words, Lani.”

“But it really is, Mom!” Lanie said and threw her hands up to her face. “It really is! I’m so mad, so... So angry and mostly, I don’t know… disappointed?”

“What happened?”

“I was coming around the corner of the hallway when I ran into Leo Bartinellio and Jason Gordon talking about homecoming. Jason started talking about how he was going with me,” Poppy raised her eyebrows at that because she hadn’t been aware of this, “I was going to tell you that he asked me, but it doesn’t matter now! I’m not going!”

“Why?”

“Because Jason is an asshole! He said he was going with me, and Leo made a joke about how someone was going to take the lesbian nerd and that maybe Jason could find out if I was really a virgin or not, and if I was really a lesbian!” Lani threw herself into Poppy’s arms and started crying again. “Guys are jerks!”

Poppy frowned as she heard this. That sounded horrible, kids sure had come a long way since she was a teenager. She felt anger swell within her when she heard about what they’d been saying about her daughter. She would definitely be keeping an eye out for that kid, if she had to make some phone calls, she would make those phone calls. She usually didn’t like to be one of those moms, but this was different. Was if they tried to do the same with another girl?

“It’s okay, baby, at least you found this out before you ended up going with him. Guys think with their dicks, that’s for sure. But don’t worry about what other people think, as long as you know what’s true, then it doesn’t matter what others think.”

Lani raised her head and nodded at her mom. Her golden eyes were rimmed red from all the crying. She dropped her gazed and looked away. “Mom, can I ask you something? It might be a little personal, and you don’t have to answer!”

Poppy grin. “Well, sure.”

“I... Um. Well, the thing is... Uh.” Lani finally took a deep breath and looked at Poppy. “How old were you when you finally, uh... _did it_ with someone?” she asked in a rush voice, turning bright pink as her mother.

“Uh.”

“You don’t have to answer that.”

“Well, it’s no big deal.” Poppy thought for a moment and smiled softly, her gaze on her hands as she remembered back to that one day that changed everything. “I was about twenty-one, twenty-two when it happened. You don’t have to feel pressured to do anything if you don’t feel safe or mentally prepared for it, you know.”

Lani nodded and pulled her knees to her chest. “I’m not saying that I will go do something. It's just people make it sound like it’s something weird if you don’t. Was it a boyfriend? Did you wait for a long time before deciding?”

“It was definitely not a boyfriend...” Poppy thought about Tora and how they hadn’t even really liked each other much in the beginning. Or had, but neither one made a move until she’d gotten kidnapped.

“Mom!”

“It wasn’t something crazy!” It really was. “It was your dad actually.”

Lani raised her eyebrows again. “Well, Dad is Dad. Although, he’s kind of... I don’t know. I see what you’re getting at, but he acts so serious and... not very social, and he can be kind of a di—jerk. How did that happen?” Lani didn’t see how her mother and father had ended up together. Sure, her mom was pretty, with her round eyes and her light brown hair, and boobs for days—which Lani wished she had some of. Her father was tall, dark, and intimidating, had tattoos on his chest, back and arms and one particular circular shaped one on his neck that must’ve meant something. She’d seen the pictures of when they were younger, and she couldn’t quite place how or why they had ended up together. He was like that one Avril Lavigne song about a punk and a ballerina…

Poppy giggled and Lani gagged a little when she got a faraway look on her face.

“Yeah, your Dad has always been intense. We really didn’t like each other or had anything else to do with each other except that he was working for your Uncle Quincey and I was, too. I guess we just liked each other too much, that happened and we kind of started off from there.”

“Sounds boring.” Lani commented and rested her head on her knees. “He’s never really talked about the tattoos he has. What’s the deal with that?”

Poppy glanced over at her daughter. “That’s a long story for another time. Maybe when you’re older you can ask him. It’s not my story to tell. But let me tell you, life was never really boring with your Dad around, that’s for sure.”

“Hmm.”

“Will you be okay?”

Lani sighed. “Yeah, I think so. I just had to let it out. Thanks, Mom.”

“LANNNNNNIII, YOUR NERD BOYFRIEND IS HEEEREEE!

Both Lani and Poppy turned in the direction of Bobby’s screaming at the top of his lungs. Lani stood up and frowned. “The hell is the deal now?”

“I don’t know, but let’s go see.” Poppy said as they walked out to the living room, and found both Lily and Bobby harassing a young guy with glasses. He looked terrified at the kids who kept asking him questions and Tora who had come to stare at him from the corner by the kitchen.

“So, _are_ you her boyfriend?” Tora asked the boy who had paled considerably and was slowly shrinking upon himself even though he looked to be as tall as Tora.

“Uh, n-no, Sir.”

Lani rushed to the boy’s side and linked her arm around his. “Daaaaad! You guys stop it. You’re freaking him out!”

Tora squinted at his daughter who held onto the boy, then squinted at the boy who turned even paler than he already was.

“So, who is he then?”

“This is Oscar Rodriguez, we’re in cross-country together and the same grade. He’s helping me study for our Calculus exam.” Lani explained and saw the look her mom was giving her.

Tora didn’t look too convinced but nodded. Lani nudged Oscar on the side and he cleared his throat, as he went over to Tora and extended out his hand.

“Oscar Rodriguez Anderson, nice to meet you, Sir.”

“Alright. I’m Tora, and this my wife,” he pointed to Poppy who smiled warmly.

“Poppy, nice to meet you, too, Oscar,” she said and gave the boy a warm hug.

“Uh, thank you, ma’am.”

Lani went over to Oscar and begun pulling him by the backpack. “Come on, you. We have studying to do. Dad, we’ll be in the den.”

“The door?”

“Open, I know.”

“Okay.”

“Excuse us,” the kid said as Lani dragged him down the hall.

Tora and Poppy stared at their receding forms before turning to each other.

“Is that the same Oscar from sixth grade that she had a crush on?” Tora grumbled and Poppy linked her arm in his.

“I think so... He seems like a nice kid.”

“Hmm. I don’t like the look of this.”

“Tora, she’s a good kid. She won’t do anything stupid. She’s very smart and frankly, the poor boy looks terrified of you to try anything,” Poppy mused as she glanced at her husband.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t, but you know how stubborn she is,” Tora said. Poppy shook her head and pulled Tora towards the living room to take a seat on the couch.

“She won’t do anything. I think he’s scared of her.”

“How? She’s not going to bite him.”

“She’s kinda pushy. He seems... a little nerdy. I should know, from nerd to nerd, we know these things,” she explained with a grin. “He’s definitely scared of her.”

“Hmm. Yeah, well, if he tries anything, I'm kicking his ass,” Tora concluded.

“Yeah, okay—Bobby and Lily get your booties out here, RIGHT NOW,” Poppy said over her shoulder when she heard giggling and eyed her the two younger kids inching their way down the hall to bug their sister.

“Aww, Mom!” Bobby whined as he came around and clung to her neck. “We were only playing.”

“Well, she’s not in the mood and would’ve kicked your booty. Come sit with me.”

“Fine.” The brown-haired boy came around and climbed in next to her. “But I get to choose the movie!”

“I wanna watch Zootopia!” Lily concluded as she climbed over Tora’s lap. She kissed him on the cheek before settling in next to him. “Zootopia! Zootopia!”

“Alright, settle down. You’re both going to watch what I want to watch,” Tora said and they both groaned. “What? You don’t even know what I want to watch.”

“Ip Man.” Both kids said at the same time and he raised his eyebrows at him.

“Little shits.”

“Tora! Manners!” Poppy glared at him over the top of Bobby’s head as Tora grinned back at her.

…..

 **Turned** out that Poppy had been right about Oscar being scared shitless of Lani.

She’d found Lani crying in her room again a couple months later about how Oscar didn’t see her as a girl, but as a guy friend. She was just another one of the boys.

“Honey, I think he’s just scared of you. Maybe don’t punch him or threaten him as much and he’ll be fine. You’re a beautiful girl, and you have him all frazzled.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Yes. I know so. Come on, let's go make you some hot cocoa.”

Mother and daughter walked out to the kitchen, still talking about what was going on with Lani and Oscar. Bobby, always the troublemaker kept trying to bug Lani.

“Dad! Can you make him stop!?” Lani finally screamed at her father. Poppy glanced over and found Tora sitting on the couch with Lily on his lap as they watched _BRAVE_. He was nodding along with whatever Lily was telling him about the movie, and they all stared at him as he agreed that Merida was actually ‘badass’.

“Tora?”

He glanced over at them, “Kids, listen to your mother.”

Lani gave her mom a look. “That’s the scary, intense man you fell in love with?”

“He used to be quite scary.” Poppy said in defense. Of course, she couldn’t mention how she’d watched him kill men to protect her.

“He writes books,” Bobby commented. “For kids.”

“I heard that!” Tora called from the living room couch. “But I'd be more scared of your mother than me. She beat up some dude after all.”

Bobby and Lani looked at her and she groaned. “I was pissed off. He almost killed your dad and I was very emotional.”

“Well then!” Lani commented with wide eyes and then yelped when Bobby pinched her side. “Bobby!”

“Robert Nishioka, go sit your ass down and stop messing with your sister,” Poppy said in a stern voice when the boy tried to poke Lani with a fork. His eyes widened and he ran out to jump next to Tora. “Anyways, what were we saying...?”

“About Oscar...”

“Oh yeah. So anyways...”

**...Three Years Later...**

**“Mom?”**

“Hi, honey, what’s going on?” Poppy asked as she answered the phone.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Are you on your way home now? Your Dad was asking about you earlier.”

“Yes, I'm on my way. But I wanted to let you know that I'm bringing someone with me to dinner if that’s okay.” It was Thanksgiving and Lani was coming home for break.

“Yeah. No problem. Anybody we know?”

“Uh, yeah actually. You do know him.” There was some shuffling in the background and Poppy heard some whispering. “And Dad might make a big deal out of it.”

Poppy frowned. “As long as it’s not anyone crazy.”

“Oh, no. He's not. Just... I don’t know. Dad can get a little intense.”

“Oh, don’t worry. He knows he needs to behave...”

“Alright. We'll be there soon. Say hi to Dad for me.”

“Okay. Drive safely.”

“We will. Love ya Mom! Bye!”

Poppy heard the click of the phone and stood there wondering who it could be that was coming home with her daughter...

Tora stared at his slender daughter as she stood in the doorway with that lanky kid Oscar, except he wasn’t lanky anymore, quite the opposite and was possibly taller than Tora.

And he was holding on to his daughter’s hand.

He squinted at that, and Poppy nudged him on the side.

“Hi everyone!” Lani said happily. She let go of Oscar’s hand and went to hug Poppy and then Tora who gave her a questioning look. “Oh, and I brought Oscar with me!”

“I can see that,” Tora commented and Oscar stepped up to him with a confident grin. Three years later, twenty going on twenty- one, Oscar had finally stopped being afraid of Tora. He still respected the man, but didn’t cower in his presence.

“Hello, Sir. It’s good to see you again,” the younger man said as he shook hands with Tora and got a hug from Poppy. “It’s been a while.”

“So...?” Fifteen year-old Bobby asked from the couch. “Are ya finally dating?”

Lani glared at her brother but stepped back to entwine hands with Oscar who flushed and glanced at Tora from behind his glasses.

“As a matter of fact, yes. Yes, we are dating. Surprise!”

“I told you, he wasn’t scared of her,” Tora pointed out as he turned to Poppy. She smacked a hand to her face.

“Wait what?” Oscar said flushing even darker while Lani shook her head.

“Yeah, well. Anyways, dinner time!”

…

 **As** it turned out, Lani and Oscar ended up more than dating and two years later, after they had both completed their degrees and graduated, they’d returned for Summer break and given their parents the news.

They were getting married.

Poppy was ecstatic. Tora was confused as his baby girl was getting married.

**Alice** who was older on years, couldn’t make it for the engagement, but showed up for wedding since she refused to miss it.

Quincey showed up with Erdene, who had finally decided to make an honest man out of him, and with their tall and slender, blonde daughter of seventeen who couldn’t keep her eyes off Bobby. Gone were the playful banter that they’d engaged in during their childhood years, and after not seeing each other in almost four years, Bobby was lovestruck as well. The first joke he made at her, however, was about her ‘nerdy’ glasses and she’d nearly punched him in the face.

Beautiful Erin had been conceived during one of the many times that Erdene and Quincey decided to try for a relationship, and after too many drinks, they’d ended conceiving the girl. It hadn’t been the easiest relationship, had actually been quite rocky from the start, but Quincey had kept his promise and been faithful to Erdene since that day. They’d eloped some time during her pregnancy and sent Poppy and Tora pictures of their ‘wedding’.

Grandpa Robert was the first one to RSVP to Lani’s wedding, saying there was no way in hell that he’d missed his baby girl’s wedding, and even Claire managed to escape life in the city and made the hour drive over.

“I guess us Nishiokas have a thing for nerds,” Tora commented as he looked about the reception.

“There’s still some hope for Lily, though,” Poppy giggled as she glanced over at her thirteen year old daughter who was dancing with her grandfather and laughing.

“Hell, no. She has to fall for a nerd somewhere. A nice one, though. Who treats her right.” Tora concluded. “Although, the way she is, she reminds me of you. God help me, and give me patience, because I swear, I can feel her falling for some punk. I’ma have an aneurysm.”

Poppy snorted and rolled her eyes at Tora.

“You’re so dramatic.”

“You just watch.”

And he wasn’t completely wrong.

Lily ended up marrying a tattoo artist-turned-firefighter she’d met when she went to get her first two tattoos on her 18th birthday. A poppy flower for her mother and grandmother Lani, and a tiger for her father. She had two kids.

Lani gave her parents three grandkids, and Bobby ended up eloping with Erin a couple years later and giving his parents five kids who drove Quincey and Erdene crazy, but whom Quincey wouldn’t shut up about and would tell about to anyone who would listen.

“ **All** in all, I guess it could’ve been worse,” Tora concluded one day as they sat on the back porch of Quincey’s country home and watched the kids running around screaming.

“Yeah, Poppy could’ve married that Julri asshole,” Erdene commented and Tora gave her a look.

“Hell, no. Poppy has been mine forever.”

“Look at my beautiful grandbabies,” Quincey said with a sigh as he ran off to throw some water balloon at one of them.

“He’s crazy.”

“Yeah, he’s crazy,” Erdene agreed as she eyed the graying, blonde man with aquamarine eyes. “But he wouldn’t be Quincey if he wasn’t… Also, DAMMIT QUINCEY GET OFF THAT BENCH, YOU’RE GOING TO BREAK YOUR OTHER HIP!” Erdene screamed at her husband who flipped her the bird. He’d broken his right hip three years ago while snowboarding. He was almost sixty and acted like he was still in his twenties.

“Agreed,” Poppy said and then winced when Quincey swayed slightly.

“Yeah, I suppose,” Tora commented as he cuddled Poppy closer to him.

Somewhere above, two women—one brunette and one black haired—finally disappeared into soft sparkles of light, their mission finally completed.

....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oKAY. SO, I realized I made a mistake on the previous episodes about what month it was and how far along Poppy was.  
> It was supposed to be around Thanksgiving time when Tora's birthday happened. He's all mopey for a week after meeting Robert, so that would've thrown them into December. Then he disappears for two weeks, so thats mid December. He's in the hospital for 5 weeks, so that's about January and two months pass after that before they meet up with Vincent, so that would've been around March. SO let's just say their first kid was born around September, give or take.
> 
> GUYS, this is the end for this story. I'm so glad and sad (mostly sentimental) about completing it. There is so much I would want to add to it but then it would just go on forever. Thank you for everything that's liked this story and read it. Thank you for the awesome comments, they made my day :)
> 
> Obviously, thank you to Lilydusk for her awesome characters and her story which is AMAZING and i'm so excited to have found it on Webtoons and been there from the beginning@!! <3 <3 <3
> 
> Thank you guys!! * goes and cries off in a corner, with a bucket of ice cream*
> 
> Oh yeah PS. I will be focusing on DISCIPLINE one-shots now.  
> and if anyone is interested, you can also find me on TAPAS as: Nurse Amethyst where i'm working on another story , unrelated to this here-- SOUL ON FIRE  
> and have completed one titled THE THIN LINE BETWEEN HATE AND LOVE.
> 
> <3 THANK YOU GUYS ;( ;( ;(


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